
Class iL„l:5:_2_ 

Book i£L 

COPYRIGHT DKPOSni If f 




President Lincoln and his son Thaddeus. 



LINCOLN IN STORY 



The Life of the Martyr-President 
told in Authenticated Anecdotes 



EDITED BY 

SILAS G. PRATT 




ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1901 



"17 



THF LIBRARY OF 

CONGRESS, 
Two Copies Recpveo 

SEP. 21 ^?^01 

COPVRIOHT EWTRV 

CLASS ^ XXa No. 
COPY A. 



,15 
C^1 



Copyright, 1901, 
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 



DEDICATED TO 

WILLIAM CHILDS, Jr., 

OF BASKING RIDGE, 
NEW JERSEY. 



INTRODUCTION 



Whei^ a boy, the writer listened to the sturdy 
eloquence of Lincoln. He was in the old " Wig- 
wam '' at Chicago when Lincoln was nominated 
for the presidency, and witnessed the frantic dem- 
onstration of enthusiasm when the rails he had 
split were produced in the convention. Later he 
saw Lincoln's face, in the silence and calmness of 
lasting repose, after the assassin had accomplished 
his death. These small personal associations have 
strengthened the writer's feeling that the greater 
the intimacy with Lincoln's life which one can gain, 
the stronger, better, and more humane one may 
become. 

The memories of such a pure, imseliish, and 
honest character will form a shield for the indi- 
vidual and a bulwark for a nation. 

l^early every Life of the Martyr President, or 
Book of Recollections, so far published, has con- 
tained some anecdotes which have given us an occa- 
sional glimpse into the realms of his great soul — a 
rare gem, disclosing the prismatic colors of a cos- 
mic nature — but no volume has been devoted ex- 
clusively to narratives. 



vi LINCOLN IN STORY 

The great interest shown, especially by the 
younger generation, in the fugitive Lincoln stories 
which have appeared in various magazines and 
journals from time to time, no less than the wri- 
ter's personal enjoyment of those found scattered 
through the larger works, as well as the hope of in- 
spiring additional interest in the study of his more 
(Complete history, has been the incentive of this 
compilation. 

It is also a pleasure to record the statements of 
the artist B. F. Carpenter, who for six months lived 
at the White House with Lincoln; the Hon. Wil- 
liam H. Seward, his Secretary of State; and the 
Rev. Mr. Bristow, of I^ew York, that they never 
heard the President tell any anecdote which could 
not have been repeated with propriety in the pres- 
ence of ladies, thus indicating that the habits ac- 
quired " on the circuit '' in Illinois had been out- 
grown in the more serious and lofty ideals of the 
statesman. 

While these stories do not offer a complete 
life history, they are presented in chronological 
order, as far as possible, and the salient points of 
Lincoln's life are briefly mentioned, thus forming 
a warp upon which the various anecdotes are 
woven. The book, therefore, offers a biography in 
story form which it is hoped will prove of interest 
to older as well as younger readers, and of value to 
private and public libraries as well as to school li- 



INTRODUCTION vii 

braries and reading circles, since I believe there 
lias been no such consecutive presentation of Lin- 
coln's life through the medium of anecdotes. 

Many stories are quoted as told by individuals, 
and frequently, the forms of speech, quaint and 
full of " local color," are less elegant, perhaps, than 
true. 

It has seemed to the writer, in compiling these 
narratives, that a new estimate of Lincoln's char- 
acter was brought out; that the stature of good- 
ness was increased far beyond that of even our 
great men; .that the humanity, tenderness, love of 
mankind, willingness to help, and joy in making 
others happy, was indeed godlike; added to this, 
the spirit of toleration and forbearance exercised 
toward his enemies, and we realize the truthful- 
ness of John Hay's estimate in a letter to Mr. 
Herndon : 

" I consider Lincoln's republicanism incarnate, 
with all its faults and virtues. As, in spite of some 
rudeness, republicanism is the sole hope of a sick 
world, so Lincoln, with all his foibles, is the great- 
est character since Christ." 

The stories have been gleaned from various 
sources: notably from that excellent book Abra- 
ham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, by 
William H. Herndon and Jesse W. Weik, and 
also Carpenter's Eecollections, Chittenden's Eecol- 
lections of Lincoln's Administration, Wallace's, 



viii LINCOLN IN STORY 

Eice's, Arnold's, Lamon's, and Whitney's books, 
and a few signed articles in newspapers and jour- 
nals, sucli as the I^ew York World and Home Jour- 
nal, but no anecdote is given which has not been 
carefully verified. 

If this little volume gives to the reader but a 
tithe of the pleasure it has brought the writer in 
his labor of compilation, and if it should awaken a 
new interest in the rugged life of the " greatest 
character since Christ,'' it will serve the purpose 
for which it was written. 

S. G. Pkatt. 



CONTENTS 



FIRST PERIOD: CHILDHOOD 
CHAPTER I 

PAGES 

The earliest days 1-4 

SECOND PERIOD : BOYHOOD 

CHAPTER II 

The boy at school — His mother's death — Kate Roby and 
the spelling class — Night studies by the log fire — 
Studying on a rail fence 5-10 

THIRD PERIOD : YOUTH 

CHAPTER III 

Lincoln's stepsister meets with an accident — He insists 
upon her telling the truth — Lincoln is nearly killed 
at the mill by his horse — Captain Larkins's fast 
horse 11-15 

CHAPTER IV 

Lincoln's great strength — How he earned his first dollar, 
as told by himself — He saves a man from freezing 
to death — Attacked by negroes on the Mississippi 
River 16-23 



X LINCOLN IN STORY 

FOURTH PERIOD : MANHOOD 
CHAPTER V 

PAGES 

Lincoln rescues the pet dog — Begins work for himself — 
Builds a log house and splits rails — Again goes to 
New Orleans — An exciting adventure — Lincoln helps 
to save the lives of three men 23-30 

CHAPTER Yl 

Lincoln and the " Clary's Grove boys "—His wrestling 
match with Jack Armstrong — Lincoln walks six miles 
to return six cents — He " chops up " a house for 
a barefooted man — Elected captain in the "Black 
Hawk " War — How he managed to get his company 
"endwise" — Lincoln saves the life of a defenseless 
Indian 31-39 

CHAPTER VII 

Enters into politics and gets all but three votes in New 
Salem — Studies law barefooted on a wood-pile — Lin- 
coln cradles wheat to win votes — Story of Lincoln's 
betrothal to Anne Rutledge — Her sudden death nearly 
unseats Lincoln's reason — Elected to the Legislature 
— The lightning rod and Forquier's guilty con- 
science 40-49 

FIFTH PERIOD : THE LEGISLATOR-THE 
LAWYER 

CHAPTER VIII 

Joshua Speed's story of Lincoln's first appearance as a 
lawyer in Springfield — Campaign expenses, seventy- 
five cents — Demands free speech for a friend — Wins 
a farmer's wife with stories, while his opponent 
milked her cow — Lends a poor acquaintance his horse 



CONTENTS xi 

PAGES 

to locate land — Rescues a pig — " An almighty small 
crop of fight " — The old blue sock and Government 
money — The wild boar story and the unjust judge — 
Lincoln's " Slow Horse " story — Lincoln marries — 
Partner of Logan — Of Herndon — Makes speeches for 
Clay — Elected to Congress— His eloquent appeal saves 
two young men from committing a dishonest act . 50-69 

CHAPTER IX 

Lincoln carries a little girl's trunk to the station — His 
little boy runs naked from his bath — The widow's 
pension case — " Skin Wright and Close " — Lincoln 
studies poetry — He gives a mean lawyer some good 
advice — Gives his opponents their case — His defense 
of William Armstrong 70-82 



SIXTH PERIOD : THE STATESMAN 

CHAPTER X 

Lincoln again enters politics — His anti-Nebraska speech 
— Chosen to answer Douglas — Assists in organizing 
the Republican party — An audience of two — Chal- 
lenges " the Little Giant " to debate — Speech on the 
Declaration of Independence — The question which 
defeated him for the Senate — The " bulwark of lib- 
erty " speech — Nominated and elected President — 
Prophetic soliloquy — He leaves Springfield — The plot 
to assassinate him at Baltimore .... 83-103 

SEVENTH PERIOD : THE PRESIDENT 

CHAPTER XI 

Events leading up to the great civil war — Treason in the 
Cabinet of President Buchanan — Secession of the 
Southern States — Ex-Senator Dawes describes Lin- 
coln's arrival in Washington — Loyalty of General 



xii LINCOLN IN STORY 

PAGBS 

Scott — Firing on Fort Sumter — Call for seventy-five 
thousand troops-^Massachusetts regiment mobbed in 
Baltimore — Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachu- 
setts troops defend the Capitol — The great uprising 
of the North — Douglas's loyalty — His famous speech 
— Lincoln opposes General Scott's plan of the battle 
of Bull Run— Defeat of the Union army . . 104-114 

CHAPTER XII 

The sleeping sentinel and the President — Lincoln visits 
the condemned soldier and pardons him — The sen- 
tinel becomes a hero in battle, and dies a glorious 
death 115-128 

CHAPTER XIII 

" A little more light and a little less noise " — Lincoln's 
*' Cheese Box " — The President's experience as a boat- 
man on the Mississippi gives us the Monitor in oppo- 
sition to the entire naval board^Battle of the Moni- 
tor and Merrimac — Badly scared millionaires of New 
York rebuiled by the President — " The girl with a 
singing in her head "—A mysterious Englishman ad- 
vances five million dollars to the Government . 129-148 

CHAPTER XIV 

Lincoln's "leg cases" — He dismisses a Union officer for 
treasonable language — The widow and her wounded 
son — Plow Lincoln " plowed around " the Governor — 
The presidential " chin-fly " story — Making a minister 
out of mud — Lincoln writes a pardon while in bed — 
The sick drummer boy — The poor woman and her 
two sons 149-166 

CHAPTER XV 

" It was the baby did it "—The President ejects an inso- 
lent officer — A Union officer dismissed by Stanton for 



CONTENTS xiii 

PAGES 

speaking in favor of McClellan restored by Lincoln 
— At the battle of Fort Stevens Lincoln obeys a lieu- 
tenant — Sitting for his portrait — He repeats passages 
from Shakespeare — " Why should the spirit of mortal 
be proud ? " — Lincoln's angry reply to Joseph Medill 
and his Chicaso friends 167-181 



CHAPTER XVI 

SHORT STORIES, IDEAS, AND QUOTATIONS 

Lincoln's own estimate of his mental powers — Sentence in 
Calhoun's speech — General Grant's peculiar whisky 
His reply to a titled applicant — Canvased hams — 
The jack-knife story — Brigadiers and horses — Size of 
Confederate army — " There's one of my children isn't 
dead yet " — The strict judge—" On the Lord's side " 
The henpecked husband — "How many legs will a 
sheep have ? " — The three pigeons on a fence — " Not 
rebels, but Confederates " . . . . . 181-190 

CHAPTER XVII 

The complaining Governor and the squealing boy — " By 
Jingo ! Butler or no Butler, here goes " — Lincoln 
tells a story to General Grant — Gives freedom to many 
imprisoned for resisting the draft — The Gettysburg 
address 191-200 

CHAPTER XVIII 

Lincoln's triumph 

Second inauguration — The President at Petersburg is 
mistaken for a rebel — The Confederate Government 
destroyed — Lincoln's entry into Richmond — General 
Pickett's wife and the President — His last official 
act was to save a life — His assassination — His Code 
of War adopted at the Peace Conference at The 
Hague 201-214 



xiv LINCOLN IN STORY 

CHAPTER XIX 

AFTERWARD 

PAGES 

A personal experience at a little village in the heart of 

Switzerland 215-217 

APPENDIX 

Battles and great events of the civil war, arranged in 

chronological order 219-224 



LIST OF rULI^PAGE ILLUSTEATIOKS 



FACING 
PAGE 

President Lincoln and his son Thaddeus . . Frontispiece 

House near Farinington, Illinois, in which Thomas 
Lincoln died ....... 



Mr. Lincoln's Springfield law office in 1839 . 

The Lincoln residence, Springfield 

Portrait of Lincoln, taken in 1860 

The Monitor attacking the Merriinac . 

Facsimile of draft of the Emancipation Proclama- 
tion 152 

Statue in Lincoln Park. Chicasro 213 



38 
62 
74 
94 
138 



Acknowledgment is made to Jesse W. Welk, Esq., joint author 
witii the late William H. Herndon of "Abraham Lincoln, the 
True Story of a Great Life," for the use of certain illustrations. 

XV 



LINCOLN IN STORY 



FIRST PERIOD: CHILDHOOD 

(1809-1816) 



CHAPTEE I 

" God bless my mother ! All I am, or all I hope to be, I 
owe to her." — Lincoln. 

Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 
1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky, in a little 
log house such as all the pioneers of the Western 
States built for themselves; with no flooring but 
the earth, no paper to cover the logs, and with 
but the most primitive furniture, such as they 
themselves could make, the place formed less a 
residence for comfort than a refuge against the 
storms of rain in summer and snow and frost in 
winter. They lived in the open air, in the forest 
or the field; the log house was simply a place to 
sleep in, secure from the attacks of wild animals 
or venomous reptiles. 

Here it was that Abraham Lincoln, who was 
soon nicknamed ^^ Abe,'' passed the first seven 
years of his life. 

1 1 



2 LINCOLN IN STORY 

It was here that his mother, impressed with 
the great importance of an education for her boy, 
taught him to read and write, there being no 
school in that thinly settled region. She instilled 
into his budding mind that intense desire for 
knowledge and zeal for study which character- 
ized and influenced him throughout his entire 
life; and if the poverty which burdened them 
and the hardships they endured claim our sym- 
pathies, the outdoor life, the work in the field, or 
chopping wood, the hunting, fishing, planting, and 
harvesting, conduced to a strong and vigorous 
physical growth which was in some measure a 
compensation. It was this life, with its freedom 
and the continual and forced intimacy with a new 
and uncultivated country, as well as the struggle 
for existence, which made little " Abe " such a 
perfect child of nature. 

It is well to remember that the devotion, affec- 
tionate and thoughtful spirit, that guarded the 
childhood days of little " Abe '' lent a halo of 
glory to the humble home, and clothed the rude 
life with a charm which left an undying impres- 
sion upon the boy. It grew stronger as he reached 
manhood, and this mother-love, so full of '' the 
milk of human kindness," blossomed out and 
found its full fruitage in the emancipation of a 
race and the glorification of a nation. 

When " Abe " was seven years of age his 



FIRST PERIOD: CHILDHOOD 3 

parents moved from Kentucky to Indiana in a 
'' Hoosier " wagon drawn by two horses. There 
being no railroads in those days, the emigration to 
the Western States was accomplished chiefly in 
covered wagons which took on the name ^' Hoo- 
sier " for the reason that they originated in In- 
diana, the '' Hoosier " State. These vehicles were 
usually constructed from the long box farm-wagon 
used for carrying grain; along the sides of the 
wagon box long hoops were fastened and bent; 
over these, canvas or other cloth was spread and 
fastened tight at the sides, thus forming a sort of 
rounded-top tent. Into this kind of tented con- 
veyance the Lincoln family placed their effects, 
sleeping at night in the wagon and taking refuge 
in it from the heat of the sun or rain-storms. It 
was a common sight, even as late as 1860, to see 
on nearly every road leading westward, long lines 
of these tented ^^ Hoosier " wagons moving over 
hill, through forest, fording streams, or threading 
across prairies following the '^ Star of Empire '' to 
the Mississippi Kiver, and beyond to the Kocky 
Mountains and California. 

Little " Abe " no doubt enjoyed this moving 
life, and found delight in driving the horses and 
seeing the new country. 

During these first seven years the boy not only 
learned to work and was inured to hardships; he 
had also amusements of a rough but healthy sort. 



4 LINCOLN IN STORY 

He played with a favorite hunting dog, chased 
butterflies in summer, built little mud dams across 
the brooks, and sometimes accompanied his father 
on the hunt. 

The voices of nature were continually whisper- 
ing in his ears. The weird song of the forest, the 
trees swaying in the breeze or bending in the 
storm, the wild moaning of the cold winter wind, 
the silent fall of the snow for days, when they 
were shut in from the world, exercised an awe- 
inspiring influence on the mind of the wondering 
boy, and produced a feeling of reverence for the 
unseen hand which caused them. 

Little " Abe '' returned his mother's affection, 
was always willing to do any work required, and, 
responding to the magical influence of gentleness 
and love, learned thus early to do his duty cour- 
ageously and honestly, regardless of personal com- 
fort or pain. 

In spite of their great poverty and rude home, 
little " Abe " flourished, grew strong and full of 
exuberant boyish spirit. His habit of going bare- 
footed a good portion of the year no doubt con- 
tributed something to his health, and thus we 
may think of his childhood as having been spent 
happily as well as usefully. 



SECOND PERIOD: BOYHOOD 

(1816-1819) 



CHAPTER II 

The boy at school — Kate Roby and the spelling class — Night 
studies by the log fire — Studying on a rail fence. 

The Lincoln family settled on Pigeon Creek, 
Indiana, in the spring of 1816, the father build- 
ing a log hut open on one side and without a floor. 
The nearest village where there was a post-office 
or store was Gentryville. Two years after they 
located there, a terrible disease, called the " milk- 
sick,^' caused the death of many people as well as 
cattle and calves. Abraham's mother died of that 
disease, as did also an uncle and aimt who lived 
near by (1818). About a year after his mother's 
death his father married again, and brought home 
a very kind-hearted and good woman who did all 
she could to make little " Abe's " life happy and 
useful. She soon became very fond of him, and, 
many years after, when he had become a famous 
man, she said " he was the best and most obedient 
boy she ever knew." It was this good stepmother 

5 



6 LINCOLN IN STORY 

who influenced the father to let Abraham attend 
school, which he did for a few weeks during the 
winter of 1819. But he studied at home as well 
as at school, and soon became the best speller in 
the class. 

The next winter he also had a few weeks at 
school; but altogether he had in his whole life 
not more than four months at school. However, 
he was so eager to learn, and studied and read so 
industriously every minute he could find time, 
that he finally became one of the wisest and most 
renowned men of his age. 

During the short time he attended school a 
little incident occurred which showed Lincoln's 
kindly disposition to help others, even at the early 
age of ten. 

One day in the spelling class the teacher, a 
Mr. Crawford, gave out the word " defied." 

The first one spelled it d-e-f-y-e-d; the second 
also made a mistake, and then it came the turn 
of Kate Roby, a little girl who was standing, op- 
posite to Lincoln, in the line on the other side of 
the schoolroom. 

She began d-e-f-, and was just about to say 
" y " when she glanced at Lincoln, who had been 
closely watching her. He had on a broad grin 
and pointed with one hand to his eye; the little 
girl quickly guessed his meaning and spelled it 
correctly with an " i." 



SECOND PERIOD: BOYHOOD 7 

It was while going to this school that he 
composed many verses and rhymes. One of these 
rhymes was as follows : 

" Good boys who to their books apply 
Will all be great men by and by." 

Our beloved poet Longfellow must have 
thought of men like Lincoln when he wrote this 

verse . « Lives of great men all remind us, 

We can make our lives sublime, 
And, departing, leave behind us 
Footprints on the sands of time." 

His Night Studies by the Log Fire 

" Diligence is genius." — Bach. 

" Three fourths of genius is hard work." — Robert Collyer. 

While living at Gentryville Abraham's father 
built another log house, enclosed on all sides, but 
they were so very poor they could not afford to 
have candles at night. However, they had a big 
fireplace, which was built of bricks, at one end of 
the log house, and Abraham soon found a way 
to make a light by which he could read and 
study. 

He used to go out and get some logs of dry 
wood and pile them on the fire; then they would 
blaze up brightly and shed a strong light over 
the room. Abraham would then lie down flat 
on the floor, with his book in front of him, 



8 LINCOLN IN STORY 

before the hearth, and thus resting on his 
stomach, his head upon his hand, he would read 
and study. 

In this way he read many times over the life 
of Washington, the Bible, ^sop's Fables, and 
Bunyan's Pilgrim^s Progress. 

It was before the log fire, night after night, 
that Lincoln in this manner studied his arith- 
metic, writing his sums with a piece of charcoal 
upon a large wooden shovel they happened to have 
in the house at the time. After covering it all 
over with examples, he would take his jack-knife 
or a plane and shave it off clean, ready for the 
next night's work. 

Paper at that time was very expensive, and 
a slate cost more than they could afford to pay, 
so Abraham used the wooden shovel for a slate, 
and for pencil (which they also could not buy), 
he used a piece of charcoal picked up from the 
fireplace. Thus, in spite of poverty, he succeeded 
in studying, and made rapid progress. 

Sometimes, when the shovel was not to be had, 
he wrote his figures on the logs along the sides of 
the house, on the door-posts, and any wood-work 
where his charcoal could be used. 

Thus his determination to learn and " be some- 
body" overcame the greatest difficulties — obstacles 
which few boys would have tried to overcome. 
This sublime will ^^ to do things," and help 



SECOND PERIOD: BOYHOOD 9 

others, attracted the attention of the neighbors, 
and, despite his shabby clothes, he was greatly 
respected. 

John Hanks, who afterward worked with him 
in splitting rails, tells us something of the secret 
of Lincoln's education. He said: "When Abe 
and I returned from work, he would get a piece 
of corn bread, take a book, and sit down to read 
even while eating; when he had a chance, in the 
field or at home, he would stop and read, always 
having some useful book with him.'' This was 
when Abraham was fourteen years of age. 

Lincoln's Eagerness to Learn — Studying on a Bail 

Fence 

Captain John Lamar, who was a very small 
boy in one of the families where Lincoln was well 
known, frequently repeated the following anec- 
dote about little '^ Abe " during this period of hig 
life: 

" I was very fond of riding with my father to 
mill. One very hot day as we drove along the 
dusty road we saw a boy sitting on the top rail 
of an old-fashioned rail fence. When we came 
closer we saw that the boy was reading, and had 
not noticed our approach. 

" My father turned to me and said : ' John, 
look at that boy yonder, and mark my words, he 
will make a smart man out of himself some day. 



10 LINCOLN IN STORY 

I may not see it, but you^U see if my words don't 
come true! ' '' 

That boy was Abraham Lincoln. This pic- 
ture of the little boy, sitting on the top of a rail 
fence, so busy with his reading that he did not 
even notice the farmer with his wagon and horses 
as they passed, shows that Lincoln had made the 
whole world his schoolroom, and there was no 
place that he did not find some chance to study 
and improve his mind. 




Jb^J^-i-^M^i W^'ru^y^^ 



Lines written by Lincoln on the Leaf of his School-book 

IN his Fourteenth Year. 

Preserved by his Step-mother. 

Original in possession of J, W, Wtik, 



THIED PERIOD: YOUTH 

(1820-1827) 



CHAPTER III 

Lincoln's high sense of honor — He would not permit his sister 
to deceive her mother — Is nearly killed at the mill — Cap- 
tain Larkins's fast horse. 

While still living near Gentryville, one morn- 
ing when Lincoln was going to work in the woods, 
with his ax over his shoulder, his stepsister, 
Matilda Johnson, who had been forbidden by her 
mother to follow him, slyly, and unknown to her 
mother, crept out of the house and ran after him. 
Lincoln was already quite a long distance from 
the house, among the trees, following a deer path, 
and whistling as he walked along. 

He, of course, did not know the girl was com- 
ing after him, and Matilda ran so softly that she 
made no noise to attract his attention. When she 
came close up behind him she made a quick spring 
and jumped upon his shoulders, holding on with 
both hands and pressing her knees into his back, 
thus pulling him quickly down to the ground. In 
falling, the sharp ax which Lincoln was carrying 

11 



12 LINCOLN IN STORY 

fell also and cut her ankle very badly; as tlie 
blood ran out the mischievous Matilda screamed 
with pain; Lincoln at once tore off some cloth to 
stop the blood from flowing and bound up the 
wound as well as he could. Then taking a long 
breath, he said: 

" 'Tilda, I am astonished 1 How could you 
disobey mother so? " 

'Tilda only cried in reply, and Lincoln con- 
tinued: "What are you going to tell mother 
about getting hurt? '' 

" Tell her I did it with the ax," she sobbed. 
" That will be the truth, won't it? " To which 
Lincoln replied manfully: 

"Yes, that's the truth; but it's not all the 
truth. You tell the whole truth, 'Tilda, and trust 
your good mother for the rest." 

So 'Tilda went limping home and told her 
mother all the truth; and the good woman felt so 
sorry for her that she did not even scold her. 

Lincoln goes to Mill and is nearly killed by his 
Horse 

Mr. Herndon,* in his life of Lincoln, gives the 
following account of an accident that came very 

* Abraham Lincoln : The True Story of a Great Life. By 
"William H. Herndon and Jesse W. Weik. New and revised 
edition, with an introduction by Horace White. In two vol- 
umes. Illustrated, 12mo. Cloth, $3. D. Appleton and Com- 
pany, publishers. 



THIRD PERIOD: YOUTH 13 

near rendering this book an impossibility. He 
says: 

" In later years Mr. Lincoln related tlie fol- 
lowing reminiscence of his experience as a miller 
in Indiana: One day, taking a bag of corn, he 
mounted the old flea-bitten gray mare and rode 
leisurely to Gordon's Mill. Arriving somewhat 
late, his turn did not come till almost sundown. 
In accordance with the prevailing custom he 
hitched the old mare to the arm, and mounting 
it, commenced whipping and urging the animal on 
to the work. Exclaiming, ' Get up, you old 
hussy! ' he applied the lash with each turn of the 
arm. The old horse, finally resenting his frequent 
goadings, suddenly interrupted him in the midst 
of his exclamation, just as he had cried out ^ Get 

up, you ' with a well-directed kick, which 

struck him on the forehead and instantly knocked 
him senseless. The miller rushed in, and picking 
up the unconscious and bleeding boy, whom he 
thought dead, sent for his father. Old Thomas 
Lincoln finally came and loaded the lifeless boy in 
a wagon and drove home. Abe lay unconscious all 
night, but at break of day his attendants noticed 
signs of returning life; the blood began to flow 
normally, his tongue struggled to loosen itself, his 
frame jerked for an instant, and he awoke, blurt- 
ing out the words ^ You old hussy! ' the latter half 
of the sentence interrupted by the mare's kick." 



14 LINCOLN IN STORY 

Mr. Lincoln considered this one of the re- 
markable incidents of his life. 

In speaking of it (as he often did) years after- 
ward, he explained the incident thus: ''Just be- 
fore I struck the old mare, my will, through the 
mind, had set the muscles of my tongue to utter 
the expression, and when her heels came in con- 
tact with my head, the whole thing stopped half- 
cocked, as it were, and was only fired off when 
mental energy or force returned.'' 

Captain Larkins's Fast Horse and Lincoln's Humor 

In the town, not far from where Lincoln lived, 
was a short, fat man called Captain Larkins. He 
was very fond of boasting. If he bought a pair 
of boots, he would say, " They're the finest pair of 
boots in the town " ; if he got a new wagon, " It 
is the best wagon in the settlement " ; when he 
bought a new harness for his horse, " It is the 
strongest and best-made harness in the place." 
By his loud talk and proud manner he made many 
people think he was a great man. But Lincoln 
did not like his bragging ways at all. Once when 
there was a holiday, and many farmers were gath- 
ered at the store in the village, Captain Larkins 
began to boast about his horse, telling the crowd 
that he had " the best and fastest horse in the 
town." This he repeated several times, and step- 
ping up to Lincoln, shouted out in a loud voice 



THIRD PERIOD: YOUTH 15 

SO that all might hear it, ^' I have the best horse 
in the country. I ran him three miles in nine 
minutes and he never fetched a long breath.'' 

Lincoln, then a tall young man, six feet high, 
looked down at the fat little man, and said: 
^' Well, Larkins, why don't you tell us how many 
short breaths he drew ! " 

This raised a loud laugh, and Captain Larkins 
got angry and declared he'd fight " Abe " if he 
wasn't so big. He jumped around and made such 
a fuss that finally Lincoln quietly said, " l^ow, 
Larkins, if you don't keep still I'll throw you in 
that water." 



CHAPTEK IV 

Lincoln's great strength and how he earned his first dollar, as 
told by himself — He saves a man from freezing to death — 
Attacked by negroes on the Mississippi River. 

When Lincoln was seventeen years of age lie 
had already attained his full growth, and was 
very tall. He hired out to a Mr. Gentry to help 
him with a ferry across the Ohio River, receiving 
thirty-seven cents a day for his labor. While 
thus working he wrote an essay on the American 
Government which attracted much attention at 
that time, and an article on temperance which 
was published in an Ohio paper. 

" Abe " was a very strong boy. It is said 
he could carry six hundred pounds at a time, and 
on one occasion he walked away with a pair of 
logs which three robust men could not handle. 
" He could strike with a maul a heavier blow, 
could sink the ax deeper into the wood, than any 
man I ever saw," said a gentleman who knew him 
at that time. 

It was while employed at the ferry, or during 
the time when he worked there (1827), that the 
16 



THIRD PERIOD: YOUTH 17 

following incident occurred, which Mr. Lincoln 
thought enough of to relate to the members of 
his Cabinet many years afterward, while he was 
the President of the United States.* 

They were in the President's room at the 
White House, and talking over old times, when 
Lincoln said: ^^ Seward, you never heard, did 
you, how I earned my first dollar ? '' 

" 1^0," said Mr. Seward. ^^ I never heard any- 
thing about it." 

'' Well," he said, " I was about eighteen years 
of age, and belonged, as you know, to what they 
call down South the ^ scrubs.' People who do 
not own slave or land are nobody there; but we 
had raised, chiefly by my own labor, enough prod- 
uce [corn, wheat, turnips, pumpkins, eggs, and 
chickens], as I thought, to pay taking it down the 
river to sell it. After much persuasion I got the 
consent of my mother to go, and had built a flat- 
boat large enough to take a few barrels of things 
w^e had gathered to I^ew Orleans. A steamer was 
going down the river that morning. As we had 
no docks in those days along the river, passengers 
or freight for steamboats had to be taken out in 
little flatboats. 

" That morning I went down to the river to 



* Selected from Carpenter's Recollections, published by per- 
mission of The Independent. 



18 LINCOLN IN STORY 

look over my new boat, and wondering whether I 
could make it stronger or better, when two men 
with trunks came down to the shore in carriages, 
and looking at the different boats, picked out 
mine and asked, ^ Who owns this boat?' I an- 
swered modestly, ^ I do.' ^ Will you,' said one 
of them, ^ take us and the trunks out to the 
steamer ? ' 

" ^ Certainly,' said I. I was glad to have the 
chance of earning something, and thought each 
of them might give me a couple of ' bits ' [a 
" bit " was twelve and a half cents] . The trunks 
were put on my boat, the men seated themselves 
on them, and I sculled them out to the steamer. 

" They got on board, and I lifted the trunks 
and put them on deck. The steamer was about to 
put on steam again, when I called out, ^ You 
have forgotten to pay me.' Each, then, took 
from his pocket a silver half-dollar and threw it in 
the bottom of my boat. I could scarcely believe 
my eyes as I picked up the money. You may 
think it a very little thing in these days, and it 
seems to me now like a trifle, but it was an 
important incident in my life. I could hardly 
think that the poor boy had earned a dollar 
in less than a day — that by honest work I had 
earned a dollar. The world seemed wider and 
fairer before me. I was a hopeful boy from 
that time." 



THIRD PERIOD: YOUTH 19 

A Poor Man saved from Death 

In this same year (1827), one very cold night 
in the winter, Lincoln and a friend were going 
home from Gentryville, where they had been 
during the day, when they found an acquaint- 
ance lying on the ground. He appeared to be 
asleep; they could not awaken him, and he 
could not walk. He was as helpless as a babe, 
having been drinking so much that he was " dead 
drunk.'' 

Lincoln said to his companion, " Let's carry 
him to Hank's cabin; he'll freeze to death if we 
leave him here." 

But his friend refused to help him, and so 
Lincoln alone finally lifted him to his shoulder 
and carried him a long distance, nearly a mile, 
to the first house on the road. Here he warmed 
him and brought him back to consciousness. 

The poor man often said, " Abe Lincoln's 
strength and kindness saved my life." 

In March, 1828, Mr. Gentry, who had em- 
ployed Lincoln at his ferry, fitted out a boat with 
grain and meat for New Orleans. His son Allen 
was in charge, and " Abe " was hired to go along 
as " bow " hand, his wages being eight dollars 
per month. This was a great event in his life 
at that time. He had a chance to see something 
of the world. 



20 LINCOLN IN STORY 

Attacked by Negroes on the Mississippi 

On their way to 'New Orleans in their raft, 
Lincoln and his companion floated down the Ohio 
River, entering the Mississippi at Cairo. They 
guided their little craft during the day, keeping 
clear of sand-banks or sunken trees whose stumps 
and roots sometimes stood up menacingly above 
the rushing waters. 

The days usually passed quietly, almost 
dreamily, as they glided swiftly down-stream, 
passing forests, villages, farmhouses, and " nod- 
ding sawyers,'' with now and then a steamer 
which would create little billows that rocked them 
gently up and down. 

At night they would tie up at some landing 
or convenient tree. It was so warm they could 
sleep without coverings. 

One exceedingly dark night, after they had 
passed E"atchez, they tied up at an obscure land- 
ing-place, with no habitation in sight. It was 
just such a place as robbers might choose for way- 
laying their victims. 

The clearing w^as covered with a growth of 
very tall grass, with a thick forest a little dis- 
tance away, and any one approaching the bank 
was completely hidden from view until it was 
reached. 

Lincoln and his young friend were lying down, 



THIRD PERIOD: YOUTH 21 

but were not yet asleep, when a stir in tlie grass 
at a little distance broke the silence of the night. 

" Listen! '' w^hispered Lincoln, leaning for- 
w^ard on his elbow, and at the same time reaching 
out for a big club near him. 

" Somebody's coming! '' softly answered his 
companion, at the same time bending forward and 
peering into the darkness. There was but a mo- 
ment of suspense, when several negroes sprang 
upon the raft. 

" Strike, Allen! " cried Lincoln, as he jumped 
to his feet and knocked the first one senseless. 
Then blow after blow followed quickly, with yells 
of pain, as one after another of their assailants 
were hit. 

" It's life or death," shouted Lincoln to his 
companion. But Allen Gentry needed no urging; 
he had been fighting with all his might, despera- 
tion and fear lending unusual power to his arms. 
The negroes, evidently taken by surprise by the 
vigorous defense, and suffering from the punish- 
ment received, quickly ran off howling with pain. 

" They will be coming back soon with more 
of their fellows," said Lincoln. 

" Yes," answered Allen, " and probably armed 
this time." 

'^ We'd better get away quick, for they'll 
make mince-meat of us in revenge for the licking 
we gave them," said Lincoln. 



22 LINCOLN IN STORY 

So saying, both sprang ashore and loosened 
the raft, pushing off into the stream, and getting 
as far away from the bank as possible. 

They were apprehensive lest their would-be 
robbers, smarting from defeat, would collect more 
men and follow them down-stream. After a 
couple of hours, as they heard nothing of their 
assailants, they tied up again, but this time on the 
opposite bank. 

Meanwhile the boys talked over their en- 
counter, Allen Gentry asserting that Lincoln's 
tremendous strength and rapidly delivered blows 
had probably saved their lives. 



FOUKTH PEEIOD: MANHOOD 

(1830-1836) 

DEEDS OF STRENGTH, BRAVERY, AND 
KINDNESS 



CHAPTER Y 

Lincoln rescues the pet dog — Builds a log house — Splits rails 
—Again goes to New Orleans — Returns to New Salem 
— Clerk for Mr. Offut — Helps to save three men from 
drowning. 

In March, 1830, the family moved from In- 
diana to Illinois. Abraham was just past twenty- 
one years of age, and a great tall man. The jour- 
ney was long and tedious, heavy rain and swollen 
streams rendering their progress very slow. They 
had, in front of their covered wagon, a team of 
eight oxen which Abraham drove, and a pet dog 
went along, trotting under the wagon much of 
the time. 

One day the little fellow fell behind, and 
failed to catch up till after they had crossed quite 
a large stream. Then missing him, they looked 
back, and there, on the opposite bank, he stood, 

23 



24 LINCOLN IN STORY 

whining and jumping about in great distress. 
The water was quite high and running over 
broken edges of the ice, for it was yet early in 
the spring, and the dog was afraid to cross. It 
would not pay to turn back and ford the stream 
again, with all those oxen and the wagon, just 
to please the dog; and so anxiety to hurry along 
decided them to go on and leave the animal to 
his fate. 

But Lincoln could not endure the idea of leav- 
ing the little fellow behind. So he pulled off his 
boots and socks, rolled up his trousers, and waded 
across the river, the cold water making his feet 
and legs ache terribly. When he got across, the 
dog jumped up into his face, licking it all over. 

Lincoln took the little fellow up, put him 
under one arm, and carried him over the stream 
in triumph. The dog's frantic leaps of joy, and 
other signs of gratitude, well repaid his rescuer 
for the cold wetting and pain he had suffered; 
when they got across the stream Lincoln put on 
his socks and boots again, and the little dog ran 
along by his side, barking his thanks and leaping 
up now and then to lick his hand. 

Abraham builds a Log House — Begins work for 
Himself 

Upon arriving in Illinois the family settled in 
Mason County, five miles northwest of the town 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 25 

of Decatur, on a bluff overlooking the Sangamon 
Eiver. The first months were spent in building a 
log house, clearing a field, planting it, and split- 
ting rails to fence in the place. Almost all of 
this work was done by Abraham, his father doing 
very little. Being now of age, Abraham (who 
hereafter we shall speak of as Mr. Lincoln) sought 
work for himself. 

He split three thousand rails for one man 
alone, walking three miles every day to his work. 

In March of the next year, Lincoln, John 
Hanks, and John Johnson hired out to a Mr. 
Denton Offut to make a boat and take it down 
the river to l!^ew Orleans. Finishing the boat in 
four weeks, they loaded it with pork in barrels, 
corn, and hogs, and reached a point opposite l^ew 
Salem, April 19th, where the boat struck on Rut- 
ledge's mill-dam. 

Here it hung helplessly a day and night, when 
finall}^ Lincoln's ingenuity got it over successfully, 
and they floated down to the Illinois River, thence 
into the Mississippi, and so reached New Orleans. 
It was here that Lincoln for the second time wit- 
nessed the horrors of slavery, being present at an 
auction sale in which colored girls were sold like 
cattle. He was so disgusted and indignant with 
the spectacle that he then took a vow to work 
with all his might against it. 

He now returned to his father's new home in 



26 LINCOLN IN STORY 

Coles County, Illinois, and accepted a challenge 
from a famous wrestler, Daniel I^eedham, going 
to Wabash Point, where the contest took place. 
Lincoln came off the victor, throwing his man 
twice, and thus proving his superiority as an 
athlete by exhibiting powers of strength and en- 
durance of which he was always proud. 

Returning to I^ew Salem, he took any work 
which offered, became clerk of an election board, 
and made a great many friends by telling funny 
stories. Finally, Mr. Denton Offut hired him to 
take charge of his store. 

It was during this time, in the spring of 1831, 
before starting for New Orleans with his boat, 
that Lincoln played a prominent part in an affair 
that came very near ending in the death of three 
men. A Mr. John Eoll, who lived in l^ew Salem 
at the time, witnessed the incident, and frequently 
related it afterward. 

Mr. John RolVs Narrative 

An exciting adventure — Lincoln helps to save the lives of 
three men. 

" It was in the spring after the deep snow, 
Walter Carman, John Seamon, and myself had 
helped ^ Abe ' in building the boat for Mr. Offut, 
and when he had finished, we went to work to make 
a ^ dugout ' or canoe to be used as a small boat 
with the flatboat. We found a good log quite a 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 27 

ways up the river, and with our axes went to work 
under Lincoln's direction." 

The river was very high and running swiftly. 
After the " dugout '' was ready they took it to 
the edge of the water and made ready to push her 
off, when, as the boat struck the water. Carman 
and Seamon jumped into it, each in a spirit of 
fun, wanting to get the first ride. As they shot 
out from the shore they found they were unable 
to make headway against the strong current, and 
Lincoln shouted, " Head up the stream and work 
back to shore! '' 

But against the strong current they could do 
nothing. At last they began to pull for the wreck 
of an old fiatboat which had sunk in the river a 
long time before, lea^ang a pole sticking out of 
the water. Just as they reached it Seamon made 
a grab and caught hold of the pole; but the canoe 
turned over, throwing Carman into the water, 
leaving the other man hanging to the pole. 
Quicker than it takes to tell, the swift current 
carried Carman down-stream. 

Lincoln raised his voice above the roar of the 
water, and shouted : " Swim for the elm-tree down 
there! You can catch it! Don't get excited! 
Catch hold of a branch! " 

The tree stood out in the stream, which by 
the flood had risen up to its branches, and Car- 
man, being a good swimmer, caught a branch and 



28 LINCOLN IN STORY 

pulled himself up out of the water, which was 
very cold, and had almost chilled him to death. 
There he sat in the tree shivering and chattering 
like a monkey. 

Lincoln, seeing that Carman was safe for the 
present, now called out to Seamon: ^^ Let go the 
pole, and swim to the tree. You can't hang on 
there much longer, and if you do you'll be too 
weak to swim! " 

Seamon didn't like to get into the cold water, 
but he knew Lincoln w^as right, and so he let go 
and dropped into the river. Lincoln called out: 
" That's right ! Keep your breath ! Don't worry; 
you'll get there all right! There now, look out! 
Catch the branch ! " Just as he got to the tree 
he reached out for it, but missed. 

Lincoln, and several who had gathered on the 
bank, held their breath in horror, for the man 
went under the water and they thought he would 
drown. But he came up again and made one 
more desperate effort, which was successful, and 
he soon climbed up into the tree beside Carman. 

Things were getting exciting now, and nearly 
all the people in the village came running down 
to the place; the two men were in the tree, wet 
and freezing, surrounded by a raging stream, the 
boat lost. 

Lincoln called out, " Keep up your spirits, 
boys, and we'll save you." And again: ^' Try and 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 29 

keep your legs and arms moving as much as you 
can! Eub yourselves so as not to get cold! '^ 

Lincoln now got a rope and tied it to a big 
log that lay near by. He called everybody to 
come and help roll it into the water, and after 
this was done, he, with the help of several others, 
towed it some distance up the stream. 

A daring young fellow by the name of " Jim " 
Dorrell then took his seat on the log, and it was 
pushed out into the river. 

Lincoln said: '^ Xow, Jim, we'll let you float 
down to the tree, and then you are to hang on to 
the branches and let Carman and Seamon get on; 
then we'll draw you all ashore.'' 

Lincoln directed the log so that it came to 
the tree just as was intended; but ^^ Jim," in his 
haste to help his friends, fell a victim to his own 
good-will. Making a frantic grab at a branch, 
he raised himself foolishly off the log, which was 
at once swept from under him by the swift cur- 
rent, and he was soon perching in the tree with 
the other two men. 

The excitement on shore rapidly increased; 
here were three men now to be saved instead of 
two. 

Lincoln then pulled the log back up-stream, 
and, getting another piece of rope, called out to 
the men in the tree: 

" Catch this if you can when I throw it to 



30 LINCOLN IN STORY' 

you, for I am coming myself this time." He 
then took his seat on the log and said: "Now 
push it off as far as you can, and let the rope be 
loose until I reach the tree; then don't pull on 
it tight, but be ready to do as I tell you." 

Lincoln soon reached the tree, and, keeping a 
cool head, he threw the rope "over the end of a 
broken limb and caught the^.^other end in his 
hands. Then he pulled the rope tight, and pretty 
soon had the log and himself -i^ under the tree 
where the men were sitting. .^ 

" N'ow, carefully," said Lincoln, " one at a 
time. I'll hold the log steady 5-; while you drop 
down on her." 'i;*^ 

The men were so cold and bienumbed already 
that they could hardly move, but they soon man- 
aged to get on the log with Lincoln. 

Then he called to those on shore : " Hold the 
rope tight now; we'll swing off, and the current 
will bring us pretty close to the bank." They 
shouted " All right ! " and Lincoln let go the rope 
which was around the tree. 

It proved exactly as he had said; the log, with 
all four men on it, floated over to the shore, and 
in a few minutes they were safe on land. The 
excited people, who had watched the brave act, 
now broke into loud cheers for "Abe" Lincoln; 
and he at once became a hero along the Sangamon 
River, where they never tired of telling the story. 



FRONTIER EPISODES 



CHAPTER YI 

Lincoln and the " Clary's Grove boys " — He walks six miles to 
return six cents — Chops up a house for a barefooted man 
— The Black Hawk War — Lincoln elected captain — He 
saves the life of a friendly Indian. 

After Lincoln's return from !N^ew Orleans, 
and while he was still a clerk for Mr. Offut, an 
episode occurred which settled his standing in the 
community most effectually. 

About five miles from Xew Salem was a little 
village called Clary's Grove. The young men in 
the place were known as the '^ Clary's Grove 
boys." They were a terror to the neighborhood, 
doing many reckless tricks '' just for fun," but 
they were good-natured and friendly, not mean- 
ing really to do any one an injury. 

They wanted everybody to know; that the 
^* Clary's Grove boys " were the smartest, the best 
runners, the best wrestlers, could jump higher, 
and throw farther than anybody else. Mr. Offut, 
Lincoln's employer, felt very proud of his clerk. 

31 



32 LINCOLN IN STORY 

His strength, his cleverness in telling stories, and 
his superior knowledge Mr. Offut often boasted 
of. He said he knew Lincoln could lift more, 
run faster, out-throw, and out-wrestle the '' Clary's 
Grove boys " or any one else in the county. 

The '' Clary's Grove boys " consequently felt 
it their duty to prove their superiority over Of- 
fut's clerk, and selected Jack Armstrong to 
" throw Abe." Armstrong " was as strong as an 
ox," and, they claimed, '' the best man that ever 
lived." 

Lincoln did not like to " tussle and scuffle," 
and " wooling and pulling " were also objection- 
able to him; but Mr. Offut had said so much that 
he felt in honor bound to accept the challenge. 

So one fine day a wrestling match was ar- 
ranged near Mr. Offut's store, and all the people 
for miles around came to see the fun. Almost 
everybody was betting that Armstrong would 
beat " the long, thin fellow, Abe Lincoln " ; but 
as soon as they began to wrestle it was plain that, 
for once, the " Clary's Grove boy " had met his 
match. 

The two men wrestled long and hard, but 
both kept their feet. ^Neither could throw the 
other, and Armstrong, finally getting angry at 
Lincoln's endurance, tried a ^' foul." Lincoln 
at once saw his game, and quick as a flash, and 
furious with indignation, he caught him by the 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 33 

throat, held him out at arm's length, and shook 
him as a dog might shake a rat. 

Armstrong's friends rushed forward to help 
him, although they knew he had done wrong, and 
for a minute it looked as though Lincoln would 
be overcome by force of numbers. But, facing the 
whole crowd, he backed toward the store and 
bravely defied them. 

His resolute and courageous manner, as well 
as his great strength, won their admiration at 
once; and what bid fair to end in a general fight, 
turned finally into a friendly hand-shaking all 
around, even Jack Armstrong declaring that 
" Lincoln was the best fellow that ever came to 
that town." Armstrong afterward proved him- 
self a true friend to Lincoln, welcoming him to 
his home and treating him with great hospitality 
and consideration. 

Lincoln's Honesty— He ivalks Six Miles to return 
Six Cents 

One night after closing the store, when Lin- 
coln was counting up the money he found he 
had six cents too much. After thinking it over 
a long time, he remembered how he had made 
the mistake in making change for a woman Avho 
had bought a lot of things of him that day. As 
soon as he locked up the store he started out to 
find this Avonian, determined to return the money 



34 LINCOLN IN STORY 

that night before going to bed. She lived three 
miles in the country; but it was a nice clear night, 
the stars were shining brightly, and Lincoln 
walked out to the farmhouse, gave the woman 
the money, explained the mistake, and returned 
home happy to think he had done what was right, 
though he had gone on foot six miles to do it. 

At another time he weighed out a half pound 
of tea — at least he thought he did. It was at 
night, just before closing up the store, and the 
place was quite dark. The next morning, on en- 
tering the store, he found a four-ounce weight on 
the scales instead of the eight-ounce, which he 
thought he had used; so he knew he had given 
but half as much to his customer as he had taken 
pay for. He at once weighed out four ounces 
more, closed up the store, and hurried off to de- 
liver the balance of the tea. 

Lincoln '^ chops up^^ a House and gives Comfort to 
a Barefooted, Shivering Man 

Mr. Lamon, in his Life of Lincoln, tells a good 
story illustrating his disposition to relieve suf- 
fering: 

" While living in ^N'ew Salem, one cold day 
in winter, Lincoln saw a poor fellow named Ab 
Trent hard at work ^ chopping up ' a house which 
Mr. Hill had employed him to convert into fire- 
wood. 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 35 

" Ab was barefooted, and shivered pitifully 
wliile he worked. 

^' Lincoln watched him a few minutes and said : 

" ^ Ab, how much are you to get for this job? ' 

'^ Ab answered, ^ I am to have a dollar,' and, 
pointing to his naked feet, added, ' I am going to 
buy a pair of shoes! ' 

" ^ Let me have that ax,' said Lincoln. ^ ]N'ow 
you go and get warm at the nearest fire, while I 
finish the job for you.' 

'' So saying, Lincoln seized the ax and 
chopped up the house so fast that Mr. Hill and 
Ab were amazed when they saw it done. 

^' Ab always remembered this act of kind- 
ness with the liveliest gratitude. 

'^ He afterward tried to vote for Lincoln, 
though he belonged to the opposite party, but his 
acquaintances got him drunk and then made him 
vote against him." 

Hoic Lincoln icas elected Captain — Hoic he managed 
to get his Company '' Endicise^' 

Mr. Off ut's store was soon closed up, and again 
Lincoln was out of employment. About this time, 
when Lincoln was twenty-three years old, the 
Indians, under " Black Hawk," came back into 
the State of Hlinois, and all the people living 
on farms and in small settlements fled in a pinic 
to the forts and larger towns for protection. The 



36 LINCOLN IN STORY 

Governor of the State called for volunteers, and 
Lincoln, with a number of young men from jSTew 
Salem, enlisted to fight the Indians. 

There was a man in the company by the name 
of Kirkpatrick, who wanted to be captain. This 
man owed Lincoln two dollars for moving a lot of 
heavy logs, and when the election for captain oc- 
curred at Beardstown, 111., Lincoln said to a friend 
(a Mr. William Greene), '' Bill, I believe I can 
now pay Kirkpatrick for that two dollars he owes 
me for moving those big logs. I'll run against him 
for captain." The vote was taken in a field, the 
men being commanded to gather around the one 
they wanted for their captain. When the order 
was given, three fourths of the men gathered about 
Lincoln, to his own surprise, and he was thus 
elected captain. Years afterward, when he had 
become President, Lincoln said ^' he had never 
since then met with any success which gave him 
so much satisfaction." 

Lincoln knew nothing of military rules, and 
many years afterward he told many amusing 
stories of his experience as a soldier. 

One day he was drilling the men, and they 
were marching with twenty men fronting in line 
across a field, when he wished to pass through a 
gate into the next field. 

" I could not for the life of me," said Lincoln, 
" remember the proper word of command for get- 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 37 

ting mj company ^ endwise ' so that it could get 
through the gate; so, as we came near the gate, 
I shouted: 

'' ' This company is dismissed for two minutes, 
when it will fall in again on the other side of the 
gate!"' 

After he became President, Lincoln fre- 
quently enjoyed telling this story. 

Lincoln ris7i;s his Life to save a Defenseless Lidian 

Lincoln's company had no chance to fight in 
the war, and did not take part in any battle; but 
while on the field, expecting to be ordered at any 
moment to march against the savages, Lincoln 
acted in a most heroic and honorable manner in 
saving the life of a good and friendly Indian. It 
came about in this way: 

'^ One day there came into the camp a poor, 
old, hungry Indian, without any weapon on his 
person. He had with him a pass from the general 
in command, which proved that he was a good 
and friendly Indian; but this he forgot to show 
at first. 

'' The soldiers, who had learned to hate all 
Indians, suspected him as a spy; and, angry be- 
cause the Indians had killed so many white people, 
they were about to kill him. 

'^ When the old Indian saw their intention by 
their angry manner (for he could not understand 



38 LINCOLN IN STORY 

their talk), lie remembered tlie pass for safe con- 
duct which he had with him, and brought it out 
and showed it to them. 

^' But the men were blind with rage; they had 
come a good many miles to fight Indians, and this 
was the first one they had seen. They had made 
up their minds to kill Indians, and were not to 
be cheated out of their revenge by a little piece 
of paper signed by their commanding general. 
Besides, it might be a forgery, and not the real 
writing of the general. So they said they did 
not believe it was a real true pass, and cried out: 
^ Let us shoot him ! Let us shoot him 1 ' 

^^ About a dozen soldiers grasped their guns, 
and cocking them, started to shoot him. They had 
already raised their weapons and were just about 
to fire, when Captain Lincoln, who had heard the 
noise, came upon them. He rushed forward, 
shouting out : ' Hold on ! hold on ! don't fire ! 
I command you to stop! ' And, springing in 
front of the men, he knocked up their guns 
with his arms and protected the Indian with his 
own body. 

" But the men were not inclined to obey, and 
Lincoln, now thoroughly aroused, with eyes full 
of defiance, shouted out: ^ Are you soldiers! and 
would you murder a poor, defenseless old man? 
For shame! for shame! Such an act would dis- 
grace our State and country! ' 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 39 

"Some soldiers shouted: ^ He's a spy! He's 
a spy!' 

'' ' If he's a spy/ answered Lincoln, ^ we will 
prove it, and he shall suffer death; but, until that 
is proven, any man who attempts to take his life 
will have to deal with me. Disband and go to 
your quarters; I will answer for his friendship 
myself.' The soldiers now lowered their guns, 
and went away, leaving Lincoln with the old man. 

" The Indian then showed him his pass, which 
Lincoln saw at once was genuine, and so he told 
him to go and be free. The poor man could not 
speak his thanks, so he knelt down and kissed the 
feet of his liberator, and with many actions tried 
to show him his gratitude." 



ENTRANCE INTO POLITICS 



CHAPTEK VII 

Lincoln returns to New Salem— Candidate for the Legislature 
— Takes a store and studies law under difficulties — Fails 
in business — Is appointed surveyor — Postmaster — Bare- 
footed he studies on a wood-pile — Cradles wheat to win 
votes — Sad story of Anne Rutledge — Elected to the Legis- 
lature—Becomes a lawyer— The lightning-rod and For- 
quer's guilty conscience. 

At the close of tlie Black Hawk War, Lin- 
coln returned to :N^ew Salem, and in Angust an- 
nounced liimself a candidate for tlie Legislature. 
Out of two hundred and eight votes in his town 
he received all but three, but in the whole dis- 
trict his opponent received a majority. 

His defeat in no way discouraged him, for he 
had made a very respectable showing, and the 
almost unanimous vote of 'New Salem was very 
flattering. 

He now took a store with a partner, purchas- 
ing it on credit. All his spare time was spent in 
reading and studying law, for he had now made 
up his mind he would become a lawyer. 
40 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 



41 



In 1833 they sold the store out to another 
party. When he was in business, in between 
times, while waiting on his customers, Lincoln 
read and studied. Sometimes he would get only 
three or five minutes, and would turn aside from 
reciting his lessons 
to wait upon the 
people without ap- 
pearing in the least 
disturbed. 

Xow, while out 
of business, he be- 
came, if possible, 
still more industri- 
ous, carrying his 
book with him 
wlierever he went, 
reading and studying on the street, in the field, or 
in the forest splitting rails. 

One day, while in the woods splitting rails, he 
received notice that he had been appointed a sur- 
veyor of lands. This was, indeed, good news to 
him, for it meant three dollars a day in wages — 
quite a large amount in those days. 

Lincoln knew little or nothing of surveying, 
but he borrowed books and the needed appliances 
from Mr. Calhoun, who had appointed him, and 
went to work studying hard, with the school 
teacher (Mr. Mentor Graham) to help him. In 




studying law on a log bench. 



42 LINCOLN IN STORY 

a few weeks lie reported for duty and made an 
honorable record as a surveyor. In 1833 he was 
appointed postmaster of New Salem. The letters 
were so few that he frequently carried all of them 
in his hat. 

Lincoln, Barefooted, studies Law on a Wood-pile — 
Elected to the Legislature — Becomes a Lawyer 

Before his appointment as postmaster, and 
while he was taking any work that offered, the 
following episode occurred, showing his deter- 
mination to become a lawyer in spite of his 
poverty. 

Mr. Herndon, Mr. Lincoln's law partner, re- 
lates the story as follows: 

'^ Kussell Godby, an old man who was still 
alive in 1865, told me that he often hired Lincoln 
to do farm work for him. One day he was sur- 
prised to find him sitting barefooted on top of 
a wood-pile reading a book with so much interest 
that he did not notice him till he was close upon 
him. This being a very unusual thing for farm 
hands to do, he said: ^Lincoln, what are you 
reading? ' 

a i j?^^ ^^^ reading, I'm studying ! ' he an- 
swered. 

" ' Studying what? ' said Godby. 

" ^ Law, sir! ' was the quick and positive reply. 

'' It was too much for Mr. Godby, as he looked 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 43 

at him sitting there, proud as a king, and he 
couldn't help exclaiming, ' Good gracious me ! ' as 
he passed on." 

Lincoln cradles Wheat to win Votes 

Mr. Eow Herndon, formerly of Xew Salem, 
relates how Lincoln secured a number of votes 
for his candidacy to the Legislature (in 1834). 
He said: 

" He [Lincoln] came to my house near Island 
Grove during the harvest; there were some thirty 
men in the field. He got his dinner and went 
into the field where the men were at work. I 
gave him an introduction, and the boys said they 
could not vote for a man unless he could make ^ 
hand [that is, take a scythe or cradle and mow]. 

'' ' Well, boys,' said Lincoln, ' if that's all, I 
am sure of your votes! ' 

^' He then took the cradle and led the way all 
the round of the field with perfect ease. 

" The boys were satisfied, and I don't think 
he lost a vote in the entire crowd." 

Anne Rutledge, Lincoln^s Betrothed — Her Death 
" The saddest chapter in Mr. Lincoln's life." 

llr. Herndon, in his Life, relates of his per- 
sonal knowledge the sorrowful story of Lincoln 
and Anne Rutledge, which he terms " the saddest 



44 LINCOLN IN STORY 

chapter in Mr. Lincoln's life," and we glean from 
it briefly tlie following facts: 

" Anne Rutledge was a beautiful girl, quick of 
apprehension, industrious, an excellent house- 
keeper, and by her modest, winning ways attached 
people to her so firmly that she soon became the 
most popular young lady in the village. A smart 
young business man by the name of McNeil, from 
^ew York State, who had a store and was pros- 
perous, fell in love with her, and they became 
engaged. When he had accumulated ten or 
twelve thousand dollars he determined to return 
to his native State to bring on his parents, 
brothers, and sisters to share his prosperity. 

^^ On the eve of his departure he confided to 
Anne that his real name was McNamar, and that 
he had changed it to McE^eil for fear his fam- 
ily would follow him and prevent his success in 
business. They were engaged and he could keep 
nothing from her. As soon as he returned they 
would be married. On his way East Mc^amar 
was taken ill, and for a month was confined to 
his room. Upon finally reaching ]N'ew York, after 
many delays, his father became very sick, and 
gradually faded out of life. At last he Avrote 
to Anne; but meantime his long silence and the 
change of his name had aroused suspicion in the 
minds of her friends, and as each of his suc- 
ceeding letters grew less ardent she began to lose 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 45 

faith, and finally tlie correspondence ceased alto- 
gether. 

'' At this stage of the proceedings Lincoln be- 
gan his advances with such snccess that he was 
soon recognized as her approved suitor. His 
native modesty naturally impeded very rapid 
progress, but he escorted her to quilting par- 
ties, and at her house she would frequently sing 
for him, while her relations all showed that 
they favored Lincoln's suit. Thus eventually she 
was brought to reciprocate his passion, and, while 
consenting to marry him, she made it conditional 
that she should write McN^amar and obtain his re- 
lease from her pledge. The slow-moving mails 
carried her letter to ^ew York, but no answer 
came back, and after many weeks she accepted 
Lincoln's proposal. Then Lincoln's poverty stood 
in the wa}^; she must give him time to gather 
funds to live on until he could complete his law 
studies. To this she consented, and told her 
friends ^ as soon as his studies are completed we 
are to be married.' Lincoln's great happiness, 
the joy of a devoted love, the comfort and sooth- 
ing influence of an affectionate caress, for which 
his soul hungered, were never to be realized. 

^^ Li the late summer Anne Rutledge was taken 
sick with a burning fever, and soon all hope of her 
recovery was abandoned. Her brother related 
that she kept inquiring so continuously for Lin- 



46 LINCOLN IN STOEY 

coin, a't times demanding to see him, that he was 
finally permitted to enter her room, where for an 
hour they were left alone. A few days afterward 
she died, and the effect on Lincoln is described by 
her brother as ^ terrible.' He was plunged in de- 
spair, and wandered up and down the river and 
into the woods wofully and abstractedly, at times 
in the greatest distress. His friends feared he 
would lose his reason, and finally sent him to a 
kind friend, Bowlin Greene, who lived beyond the 
hills a mile south of the town. Here he soon re- 
covered his self-command, and in the years that 
followed he never ceased to be grateful for his 
friend's great kindness.'' 

Two years after the death of Miss Rutledge, 
Lincoln declared to a fellow-member of the Legis- 
lature that ^' although he seemed to others to en- 
joy life rapturously, yet when alone he was so 
overcome by mental depression he never dared 
to carry a pocket-knife." And seven years 
after that event, when called upon to speak at 
the grave of Bowlin Greene, he broke down 
completely, and was carried sobbing from the 
scene. 

That the death of his betrothed produced a 
deep wound and cast a shadow across the soul of 
Lincoln which never quite faded, can not be 
doubted. It was his first ^' grand passion," that 
lifted him up to the heavenly heights, from which 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 47 

he was plunged to the deepest depths of agony 
and despair; and thus the second great sorrow of 
his life became written upon his face, which sub- 
sequent events w^ere to add to, until it became 
" in repose the saddest face man ever saw." 

In 1834 he w^as elected to the Legislature, and 
had to borrow money to clothe himself respect- 
ably, so that he could attend the session. Again, 
in 1836, he was elected, and in 1837 he was 
licensed to practise law. John F. Stuart was his 
partner. Late in this year he delivered an essay 
before the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield, 
111., on the Perpetuation of our Free Institu- 
tions, which, being published in the Sangamon 
Journal, created a reputation for him beyond the 
limits of that city. 

The Liglitnmg-Rod and Forquer's Guilty 
Conscience 

Joshua F. Speed relates that during the cam- 
paign for the Legislature of 1S3G Lincoln made 
a telling speech a few days before election. 

" The crowd was large, many friends and ad- 
mirers coming in from the country. The speech 
produced a profound impression; the crowd was 
with him. George Forquer, an old and respected 
citizen of ability, was present. He had been a 
Whig of prominence, but had recently joined the 
Democratic party, and almost simultaneously had 



48 LINCOLN IN STORY 

been appointed register of the land office. Just 
at this time Mr. Forquer had completed a neat 
frame house — the best house in Springfield at the 
time — and over it erected a lightning-rod, the first 
Mr. Lincoln had ever seen. 

'' At the conclusion of Lincoln's speech Mr. 
Forquer arose and asked to be heard. 

'^ He commenced thus: 

^' ^ This young man will have to be taken 
down, and I am sorry the task devolves upon me.' 

'' He then proceeded to answer Lincoln's argu- 
ments in an able and fair, but patronizing man- 
ner. Lincoln stood a few steps away with arms 
folded, carefully watching the speaker, and taking 
in everything he said. 

" Lie was laboring under a good deal of sup- 
pressed excitement. Lorquer's sting had aroused 
the lion within him. At length Forquer ended, 
and he mounted the stand to reply. 

" His reply was characterized by great dignity 
and force, and I shall never forget the conclusion: 

'' ' Mr. Forquer commenced his speech by an- 
nouncing that the young man would have to be 
taken down. It is for you, fellow-citizens, not me, 
to say whether I am up or down. The gentleman 
has seen fit to allude to my being a young man, 
but he forgets that I am older in years than in the 
tricks and trades of politicians. 

" ' I desire to live, and I desire place and dis- 



FOURTH PERIOD: MANHOOD 49 

tinction, but I would rather die now than, like the 
gentleman, live to see the day that I would change 
my politics for an office worth three thousand dol- 
lars a year, and then feel compelled to erect a 
lightning-rod to protect a guilty conscience from 
an offended God.' '' 



FIFTH PERIOD: THE LEGISLATOR 
—THE LAWYER 

(1837-1855) 



CHAPTER VIII 

Arrival in Springfield — Odd campaigning experiences — Help- 
ing a land hunter—" A small crop of fight" — The blue 
sock and Government money — The slow horse story — The 
marriage of Lincoln — His partnerships — Speeches for Clay 
— Elected to Congress — Saving two young men from dis- 
honesty. 

Mr. Joshua Speed, a very dear friend of Lin- 
coln's, relates in the following manner how at this 
time Lincoln made his first appearance as a lawyer 
in Springfield, with the intention of making it his 
permanent residence: 

" He had ridden into to^\m on a borrowed 
horse, with no earthly property save a pair of sad- 
dle-bags containing a few clothes. I was then a 
merchant at Springfield, and kept a country store, 
selling pretty nearly everything that might be 
wanted in the country. 

" Lincoln came into the store with his saddle- 
50 



FIFTH PERIOD: LECTSLATOR AND LAWYER 51 

bags under his arm. lie said lie wanted to buy 
the furniture for a single bed. The blankets, mat- 
tress, coverlids, sheets, and pillow, according to 
my prices, would cost seventeen dollars. 

" ^ Perhaps that's cheap enough,' said Lincoln, 
' but, small as the price is, I am unable to pay it. 
But,' he added, ^ if you will give me credit till 
Christmas-time, and my experiment as a lawyer 
succeeds, I will pay you then.' 

" ' Well,' I said, ^ suppose you don't succeed.' 

*' In the saddest possible tone of voice he re- 
plied, ' If I fail in this, I do not know that I can 
ever pay you.' 

" As I looked up at him, I thought then, and I 
think now, that I never saw a sadder face. 

'^ I said to him, ' You seem to be so much 
pained at making so small a debt, I think I can 
suggest a plan by which you can avoid the debt, 
and at the same time attain your end.' 

" ^ Do you really think so?' said Lincoln, his 
face brightening somewhat. 

^^ ^ Yes,' said I, ^ I have a large room with a 
double bed up-stairs which you are vevy welcome 
to share with me.' 

" ^ Where is the room? ' said he. 

" ^ Up-stairs,' said I, pointing to a pair of 
winding stairs which led from the store to my 
room. He took his saddle-bags on his arm, went 
up-stairs, set them on the floor, and came down 



52 LINCOLN IN STORY 

with the most changed expression on his face. 
Looking very happy, he exclaimed: 

" ' Well, Speed, I'm moved! '" 

Another friend took him to board without 
pay, and so, with the help of good, kind-hearted 
people, Lincoln began life as a lawyer in Spring- 
field. 

Story of Lincoln's Campaign Expenses, Seventy-five 
Cents 

In these days when honesty in political mat- 
ters is so rare, and when each candidate spends so 
mucdi of his own or other people's money to get 
elected to an office, it may be well to turn back 
the pages of history and read of the days when 
honesty as well as ability was rewarded in the field 
of politics. 

In 1838 there was a very exciting election in 
Illinois, and Lincoln for the second time was 
chosen for the Legislature by his party (the 
Whigs). A number of his friends gathered to- 
gether and gave him two hundred dollars to pay 
his expenses. After the election was over and 
Lincoln had been successful, he handed back to 
his friend, Mr. Speed, the sum of one hundred and 
ninety-nine dollars and twenty-five cents, with the 
request that he give it back to those who had 
given it to him. He said: ^' I did not need the 
money; I made the canvass on my own horse; 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 53 

my entertainment [board] being at the home of 
friends, cost nothing; and my only outlay was sev- 
enty-five cents for a barrel of cider which some 
farm laborers insisted I should treat them to ! " 

What a contrast this story of simplicity and 
honesty furnishes to the extravagance and dishon- 
esty that prevails in politics to-day! Can we won- 
der that Lincoln was loved and admired by all 
who knew him, and that they got in the habit of 
calling him ^' Honest Old Abe," by which name 
he became generally known, and was afterward 
elected President of the United States? 

Lincoln demands Free Speech for a Friend who was 
about to he Mobbed 

It was during the preceding canvass that Mr. 
Lincoln interfered and protected his friend E. D. 
Baker from the fury of his opponents. This gen- 
tleman was speaking to a crowd in the court-room, 
which was innnediately under Lincoln and Stu- 
art's law office. Just over the platform on which 
the speaker stood was a trap-door in the floor. 
Lincoln at the time, as was often his habit, was 
lying on the floor, looking down through this hole 
at the speaker. Baker, getting warmed up, made 
a sweeping charge against his opponent, which an- 
gered many in the crowd, and the cry of " Pull 
him down! Pull him down! " was followed by a 
forward movement of the men. Baker, his face- 



54 LINCOLN IN STORY 

pale with excitement, squared himself to meet the 
on-rushing and maddened men with a stout resist- 
ance, when, in the midst of the noise and confu- 
sion, a pair of long legs, with big feet, were seen 
dangling from the ceiling (where the trap-door 
was) over the platform, and in a moment the fig- 
ure of Lincoln dropped upon the floor. Picking 
up a water-pitcher in an attitude of defense, he 
shouted, " Hold on, gentlemen ! This is a land of 
free speech. Mr. Baker has a right to be heard. 
I am here to protect him, and, no man shall take 
him from this stand if I can prevent it.'' Imme- 
diately quiet was restored, and Baker was allowed 
to resume his speech. 

How Lincoln nmn the Farmer^s Wife ivhile his 
Opponent tnilked the Cow 

In those days when men wanted to get an 
office, both the Republican and Democratic can- 
didates traveled together around the country from 
town to town, stopping at farmhouses in between 
and talking to the people, trying to make friends 
and get them to vote for them. 

A good Itory is told that shows Lincoln's clev- 
erness, and how, at this time, during one of his 
electioneering tours, he won the favor of a farm- 
er's wife, whose husband was a very important 
man in that county. 

One afternoon Lincoln and his opponent rode 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 55 

up to this farmer's house on horses, which they 
put out in the barn themselves, the husband being 
away in a distant field at work. The good farm- 
er's wife invited them to take supper and stay 
overnight, as was customary. Now, each man 
wanted to win the good-will of the lady, because 
she, of course, had a strong influence over her hus- 
band; but for quite a while neither seemed to suc- 
ceed very well. 

Finally it came time to milk the cows, and the 
woman, taking her pail, started for the barn-yard. 
Mr. Ewing (Lincoln's companion and opponent) 
now saw his chance, and, following quickly, he 
took the pail from her hand and insisted upon 
milking the cow himself. He thought by thus 
helping the woman to do her work he would 
surely win her good-will; and so he sat down and 
commenced milking, chuckling to himself how he 
had got the better of " Abe Lincoln." Once in a 
while he would speak to the lady, who stood by 
the fence looking on; but after a time, receiving 
no reply from her, he looked around only to see 
the woman and Lincoln leaning comfortably on 
the fence, and talking in a most friendly manner. 
Mr. Ewing now was naturally disgusted with him- 
self, for there he had to sit and finish his task, 
while Lincoln was having a good time chatting 
with the lady, and captivating her with his amus- 
ing stories. 



56 LINCOLN IN STORY 

When Mr. Ewing finished, the farmer's wife 
" added insult to injury " by thanking him most 
heartily, not only for milking the cow, but also 
for '^ giving her a chance to have such a pleasant 
talk with Mr. Lincoln! " 

Lincoln lends a Poor Acquaintance his Horse to 
take up some Land 

Lincoln always sympathized with the '^ under 
dog in the fight," and was never so happy as when 
he could help some one else to what he believed 
they deserved. While he was postmaster at New 
Salem (carrying the letters around in his hat) he 
was overtaken one day, when about fourteen miles 
from Springfield, by a Mr. Chandler, whom he 
knew slightly. This man had already ridden 
twenty miles, and was hastening to reach the land 
office before a certain other man who had gone by 
a different road. Chandler explained to Lincoln 
that he was poor and wanted to enter a small tract 
of land which adjoined his; that another man of 
considerable wealth had also determined to have 
it, and had mounted his horse and started for 
Springfield. ^^ Meanwhile, my neighbors,'' con- 
tinued Chandler, " collected and advanced me 
the necessary one hundred dollars, and now, if I 
can reach the land oflfice first, I can secure the 
land." 

Lincoln, seeing that his horse was jaded and 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 57 

in no condition to make the additional fourteen 
miles, at once dismounted from his own and 
turned him over to Chandler, saying: '^Here's 
my horse; he is fresh and full of grit; there's no 
time to be lost; mount him and put him through. 
When you reach Springfield put him up at Hern- 
don's tavern, and I'll call and get him." Chandler 
at once changed horses and hurried on, leaving 
Lincoln to follow on his jaded animal. He ar- 
rived in Springfield an hour in advance of his 
rival, and secured the coveted land. By nightfall 
Lincoln rode leisurely into town and was met by 
the jubilant Chandler, and between the two there 
sprang up a friendship which all the political dis- 
cords of twenty-five years could not disturb. 

A Pig, stuck in the Mud, is rescued by Lincoln 

While Lincoln was practising law he used to 
go from one town to another to try cases before 
different courts. There were no railroads in those 
days, and traveling " on the circuit " (going 
around from court to court) was done mostly on 
horseback. 

One day, when several lawyers besides Mr. 
Lincoln were traveling in this way, they came to a 
very muddy place in the road, and at one side, 
near tlie rail fence, was a poor pig stuck fast, and 
squealing as loud as possible. 

The men thought this very funny, and 



58 LINCOLN IN STORY 

laughed at the unfortunate pig; but Lincoln said, 
^^ Let us stop and help the poor thing out/' 

''Oh, Abe," said one, ''you must be crazy! 
Your clothes would look pretty after you had 
lifted that dirty pig up, wouldn't they? " 

The others all poked fun at Lincoln, and so 
they rode on until they were out of sight and 
hearing of the suffering beast. 

Lincoln rode on with them also, but little by 
little he went slower. He was thinking about the 
pig, and the farmer who owned him. He thought : 
" What a pity for him to lose that pig; he can't 
afford it! It means shoes for his little children to 
wear next winter." And then the memory of that 
pitiful squeal kept ringing in his ears. So, after 
going quite a long distance with the other gentle- 
men, Lincoln turned his horse and rode back all 
alone, to see if he could get the pig out. He 
found the poor thing still deeper than before in 
the mud and mire. So he took some rails from 
off tlie fence, and putting them down by the 
squealing animal, made a safe footing to stand on. 
Then he took two other rails, and, putting them 
under the pig, pried him up out of the mud until 
he could reach him with his hands. Then he took 
hold of him, and, pulling him out, placed him on 
the dry land. 

As the pig ran grunting off toward his home, 
Lincoln looked at his soiled clothes with a satisfied 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 59 

smile, as much as to say, " Well, a little water and 
brushing will soon make the clothes look clean 
again, and I don't care if the other fellows do 
laugh at me; the pig's out of his misery, and 
Farmer Jones's children won't have to go bare- 
footed next winter." 



''An Almighty Small Crop of Fight -^ 
Lincoln wins a case by a humorous question. 

In Rice's Recollections of Lincoln, the Hon. 
Chauncey M. Depew relates the following story, 
which aptly illustrates the humorous as well as the 
shrewd side of Lincoln's character: 

" Lincoln was trying a case in Illinois where he 
appeared in defense of a prisoner charged with ag- 
gravated assault and battery. The complainant 
had told a horrible story of the attack, which his 
appearance fully justified, when the district attor- 
ney, who was prosecuting the case for him, handed 
him over to ^fr. Lincoln for cross-examination. 
Mr. Lincoln said he had no testimony, and unless 
he could in some way break down or discredit the 
complainant's story, he saw no way of winning 
the case. 

'^ He had come to the conclusion that the wit- 
ness was a l^umptious fellow, who rather prided 
himself on his smartness in repartee. And so, 
after looking at him some time, he said: 



60 LINCOLN IN STORY 

^' ' Well, my friend, how mucli ground did you 
and my client here fight over? ' 

^' The man quickly answered, ' About six 
acres/ 

^' ' Well/ said Lincoln, with a twinkle in his 
eyes and a smile playing about his mouth, ^ don't 
you think that this is an almighty small crop of 
fight to gather from such a big piece of ground ? ' 

" This produced a laugh, which was finally 
joined in by the entire court, and the affair was 
' laughed out of court.' " 

The Old Blue Sock and Government Money held in 
Trust 

One of the incidents which contributed to Lin- 
coln's fame for integrity, and avou for him the 
sobriquet of " Honest Abe," occurred in connec- 
tion with the closing up of his affairs as postmaster 
at ^ew Salem. 

On May 7, 1833, he was appointed postmaster, 
and kept the place until it was discontinued. The 
balance of money in his hands which belonged to 
the Government was between sixteen and eighteen 
dollars. This small amount was overlooked by 
the post-ofiice department and not called for 
until several years after Lincoln had removed to 
Springfield. 

During these years he had been very poor — 
so poor, indeed, that he had been compelled 



FIFTH TERIOI): LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 01 

to borrow moncj of friends for the necessities 
of life. 

One day an agent of the post-office called at 
Mr. Henry's, with whom Lincoln at that time kept 
his office. 

" Knowing Lincoln's poverty," Mr. Henry 
afterward related, " and how often he had been 
obliged to borrow money, I did not believe he had 
the funds on hand to meet the draft, and was 
about to call him aside and loan it to him, when 
he asked the agent to be seated a moment. He 
then went over to his boarding-house and re- 
turned with an old blue sock with a quantity of 
silver and copper coin tied up in it. 

" Li^ntying the sock, he poured out the contents 
on the table and proceeded to count it, and the 
exact sum (and the identical coin) was found which 
years before he had received for postage-stamps 
from his friends in Salem. 

"All the intervening years the money had been 
placed aside in an old trunk, and, no matter how 
much he needed money, he never thought of using 
that which he held in trust for the Government. 
He ?ierer used trust funds.^^ 

Tii'o Little Birds returned to their Nest 

Lincoln's great kindness of heart and his ex- 
treme sensitiveness to the pain and suffering of 
others, even of animals, or any living thing, are 



62 LINCOLN IN STORY 

well known. We are indebted to his old Spring- 
field friend, Mr. Speed, for the following incident, 
illustrating this trait of his character which so en- 
deared him to his friends: 

He, with several members of the bar from 
Springfield, had been attending court at Chris- 
tiansburg, and Mr. Speed was riding with them 
toward the Capitol. There was quite a party of 
lawyers riding two by two along a country lane, 
and Lincoln and Hardin brought up the rear of 
the cavalcade. Mr. Speed relates: 

" We had passed through a thicket of wild 
plum and crab-trees and stopped to water our 
horses, when Hardin came up alone. 

" ^ Where is Lincoln ? ' we all inquired. 

" ^ Oh,' replied he, ^ when I saw him last he 
had caught two young birds which the wind had 
blown out of their nest, and he Avas hunting for 
the nest to put them back.' 

" In a short time Lincoln came up, having 
found the nest and placed the young birds in it. 
The party laughed at him, but he said: 

" ^ I could not have slept if I had not restored 
those little birds to their mother.' " 

The Wild-Boar Story and the Unjust Judge 

Lincoln's peculiar power as an attorney-at-law 
is well illustrated by an episode related by Mr. 
Herndon in his Life of Lincoln, wherein his feel- 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER f,3 

ings of indignation were tlioronglily aronsed, and 
expressed, in a spirited, at times eloquent, as well 
as humorous manner. He says: 

'^ I remember a murder case in which we ap- 
peared for the defense, and during the trial of 
which the judge — a man of ability far inferior to 
Lincoln's — kept ruling against us. 

" Finally, a very material question — in fact, 
one around which the entire case seemed to re- 
volve — came up, and again the court ruled ad- 
versely. 

^' The prosecution was jubilant, and Lincoln, 
seeing defeat certain unless he recovered his 
ground, grew very despondent. 

" The notion crept into his head that the 
court's rulings, which were absurd and almost 
spiteful, were aimed at him, and this angered him 
beyond reason. lie told of his feelings at dinner, 
and said: 

" ' I have determined to crowd the court to 
the wall and regain my position before night.' 

" From that time forward it was interesting to 
watch him. 

^' At the reassembling of court he arose to 
read a few authorities in support of his position, 
keeping within the bounds of propriety just far 
enough to avoid a reprimand of the court. He 
characterized the continuous rulings against him 
as not only unjust but foolish, and, iigiiratively 



64 LINCOLN IN STOKY 

speaking, he peeled the court from head to 
foot. 

" Lmcohi had the crowd, a portion of the bar, 
and the jury with him, and this nerved him to a 
feehng of desperation, lie was, in fact, ' mad 
all over.' 

'^ lie had studied up the points involved, but, 
knowing full well the caliber of the judge, Lincoln 
relied mostly on the moral effect of his personal 
bearing and influence. 

^' He was alternately furious and eloquent, 
and after pursuing the court w^ith broad facts and 
pointed inquiries in rapid succession, he made use 
of this homely incident to clinch his argument. 
He said: 

'^ ' In early days, a party of men went out 
hunting for a wild boar. But the game came 
upon them unaw^ares, and, scampering away, they 
all climbed trees save one, who, seizing the animal 
by the ears, undertook to hold him. 

" ^ After holding on for some time and feeling 
his strength giving way, he cried out to his com- 
panions in the trees: 

" ' ^^ For God^s sake, boys, come down and 
help me let go ! '' ' 

" The prosecution tried in vain to break him 
dowm, and the judge, badgered effectually by Lin- 
coln's masterly arraignment of law and fact, pre- 
tended to see the error of his former position, and 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 05 

finally reversed his decision in his tormentor's fa- 
vor. Lincoln saw his triumph, and surveyed a 
situation of which he was master. 

" His client was acquitted, and he had swept 
the field.'' 

Lincoln'' s " Slow-Horse Story " 

Shortly before the election an artist, Mr. 
Alban J. Conant, of New York, went to Spring- 
field to paint the '^ rail-splitter's " portrait. The 
painter found him in a large room of the State- 
house surrounded by clerks and messengers, with 
piles of letters and telegrams before him ; but, al- 
though he was extremely busy, he granted the artist 
a sitting of one hour each day. Mr. Conant de- 
scribes his face when " at rest as invariably sad 
and abstracted, but when pleased and interested 
this changed to one of animation and forcefulness." 

To gain his attention and keep his expression 
the painter told him stories, at one of which he 
laughed so heartily as to be heard throughout the 
entire building. Lincoln did not forget that 
story, and told it many times after he became 
President, never failing to credit it to Alban J. 
Conant the painter. 

Lincoln called it the ^^ slow-horse story." It 
ran in this way: A lawyer in a Western to^m de- 
sired the nomination for county judge, and, on 
the morning preceding the evening on which the 



66 LINCOLN IN STORY 

county convention was to meet, applied to tlie 
livery-stable keej)er in his village for a horse and 
buggy in which to drive to the county town, six- 
teen miles distant, where the convention was to 
be held. '^ Give me the best and fastest horse you 
have, Sam," said he, '^ so that I will have time to 
go around and see the boys before the convention 
comes in." The liveryman, however, was sup- 
porting a rival candidate, and gave our hero a 
horse that outwardly appeared perfect, but which 
broke down entirely before half of the journey 
was performed, so that, when the candidate ar- 
rived, the convention had adjourned and his rival 
had been nominated. 

On his return to the stable late the following 
afternoon, knowing that it was useless to resent 
the trick played upon him, he said to the owner: 
" Look here, Smith, you must be training this 
horse for the Kew York market. Expect to sell 
him to an undertaker for a hearse horse, don't 
you, and at a good round price?" Mr. Smith 
protested that the beast was one of his best 
horses. 

"Oh, don't deny it!" said the candidate. 
" I know by his gait you have spent days train- 
ing him to pull a hearse; but it's all time wasted. 
He will prove a dead failure. He's altogether 
too slow. He couldn't get a corpse to the ceme- 
tery in time for the resurrection." 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 07 



Lincoln marries — Partner of Logan; of Herndon — 
Makes Speeches for Clay— Elected to Congress 

On E'ovember 4, 1842, Mr. Lincoln married 
Miss Mary Todd at Springfield. Tliis same year 
he enlisted in the temperance movement. The 
year before (1841) Lin- 
coln had retired from the 
partnership with Stuart, 
who had been elected to 
Congress, and associated 
himself w^ith S. T. Logan. 
In 1843 he severed this 
connection because Mr. 
Logan as well as himself 
aspired to be sent to Con- 
gress. He then took Mr. 
Herndon as partner, but 

did not succeed in getting the nomination to Con- 
gress. In 1844 he was a presidential elector, and 
made campaign speeches throughout Illinois for 
Clay and Polk; was nominated for Congress May 
1, 1846, and elected. He opposed the Mexican 
War, considering it a war of conquest, unjust and 
unnecessary. 

On July 10, 1848, he wrote his partner a letter, 
in which the following wise sentence occurs: 

" The way for a young man to rise is to im- 
prove himself every way he can, never suspecting 
that anybody wishes to hinder him." He made 




C8 LINCOLN IN STORY 

speeches for Taylor in New EnglaTid, also in Illi- 
nois, and after Taylor's election he introduced a bill 
in Congress looking to the emancipation of the 
slaves in the District of Columbia. It received no 
consideration. He was offered the position of Gov- 
ernor of the Territory of Oregon by President 
Taylor, but declined, and returned to his home in 
Springfield to practise law. 

Lincohi's Eloquent Appeal compels Tivo Young Men 
to pay for a Team of Oxen, though the Law 
rendered them, as Minors, not Liable for the Bill 

Mr. Herndon, Lincoln's partner, relates that 
in the spring of 1847 Lincoln, then a Congress- 
man, was employed by an old man by the name 
of Case to collect a note of two hundred dollars 
signed by Snow brothers, who, pleading the minor 
act, refused to pay it. 

The brothers did not deny the note, but, 
through their lawyer, pleaded that they were 
minors, and that old Mr. Case knew that fact 
when they gave him the note. Lincoln admitted 
all this, saying, " Yes, gentlemen, I reckon that's 
so." The minor act was read to the jury, and 
every one thought that Lincoln had given his case 
away, and would submit to the injustice to his 
client in silence, because the law plainly stated 
that minors could not be held liable for debt. 
Lincoln, however, arose, and in a quiet tone said: 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER GU 

" Gentlemen of the jury, are you willing to 
allow these boys to begin life with this shame and 
disgrace attached to their characters? If you are, 
I am not. The best judge of human nature that 
ever wrote has left these immortal words for all 
of us to ponder: 

" ' Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, 
Is the immediate jewel of their souls : 

Who steals my purse steals trash ; 'tis something, nothing; 
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; 
But he that filches from me my good name, 
Robs me of that which not enriches him. 
And makes me poor indeed.' " 

Then, rising to his full height, and looking 
down upon the young men with the compassion of 
a brother, his long right arm pointing to the op- 
posing lawyers, he continued: 

" Gentlemen of the jury, these poor innocent 
boys would never have attempted this low villainy 
had it not been for the advice of these men.'' He 
then sliowed how the noble science of law might be 
prostituted, and with a scathing rebuke to those 
who thus belittled their profession, he concluded: 
" And now, gentlemen, you have it in your power 
to set these boys right before the world." 

Thus, pleading for the boys and their good 
name, he left the case to the jury, which with- 
out leaving their seats decided that the boys 
must pay the debt; and the latter, after listening 
to Mr. Lincoln, were willing and glad to do it. 



CHAPTEK IX 

Lincoln, the little girl and her trunk — His little son Willie 
runs naked from his bath — The widow's pension case — 
" Skin Wright and close " — He gives a mean lawyer some 
good advice — Gives his opponent's their case because it was 
just — His defense of William Armstrong. 

One morning, some time after Lincoln had re- 
turned to Springfield to practise as a lawyer, 
while he was walking down-town to his office, he 
noticed a little girl standing at the gate in front 
of her house crying as though her heart would 
break, lie stopped and asked, " What's the mat- 
ter, my little girl 't " 

" Oh, Mr. Lincoln ! " she exclaimed between 
her sobs, '' I shall miss the train, because the ex- 
pressman has not come to take my trunk as he 
promised.'' And she burst out crying again. 

" That's too bad, that is too bad," said Lin- 
coln, patting her on the head. ^' Where were you 
going? " he added. 

She answered, " I was going to visit my 
aunt with a little friend, and it's to be my first 
trip on the cars; and, oli, I have planned about 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 71 

it and even dreamed about it for weeks! And 
now it's most train time; my little friend will be 

waiting at the station, and auntie too; and " 

Here her sobs broke into her story, and her little 
body shook with the effort of crying so hard. 

Lincoln was touched. " How big is the trunk? 
There's still time, I guess, if it's not too big." 
Saying this, he pushed by the gate and up to the 
door. 

The little girl's mother showed him to the 
room, where there was a little old-fashioned trav- 
eling trunk, locked and tied. 

^^ Oh, ho ! " cried Lincoln. " Wipe your eyes, 
and come quick. AVe'll catch the train yet, I 
guess." 

He picked up the trunk, threw it on his 
shoulder, and strode out through the yard into the 
street, the little girl trotting by his side, and dry- 
ing her eyes as she went. Pretty soon they heard 
the rumbling of the train approaching in the dis- 
tance, and the toot of the wdiistle. 

*^ Take my hand, little one," said Lincoln, 
'^ and we'll get there." So, hastening his steps, 
carrying the trunk on his shoulder and holding 
the little girl's hand, they hurried on and reached 
the station just as the train rolled in. 

Lincoln put the child on the train, kissed her 
good-by, and cried out, " ISTow, have a real good 
time! " 



Y2 LINCOLN IN STORY 

How Little Willie Lincoln ran away from his Bath 
Tub 

Lincoln was very fond of his little boys, and 
enjoyed their pranks, often laughing at their 
childish ways. One morning during this period 
of his life in Springfield, when his son Willie was 
about three or four years old, his mother was 
giving him a bath in a big tub; the little fellow, 
screaming with fun, suddenly jumped away from 
her and scampered out of doors. 

His father was sitting on the front porch read- 
ing the papers, and hearing the noise, looked up, 
bursting into a hearty laugh at the comical sight. 
The little fellow, meanwhile, ran out into the 
street, and crawled under the fence into the field 
of young corn that was growing near the house. 

Lincoln sprang up from his seat, watching the 
boy's small ])ink and white legs twinkle along the 
sidewalk, and shaking with laughter. But his en- 
joj^ment of the fun was cut short by the mother's 
appearing on the scene, exclaiming: 

" Run and catch him, dear, and don't stand 
there all day laughing yourself to death. There 
he goes now in the corn-field," she added; " run 
quick!" 

Sure enough, Willie was now running as fast 
as his little legs would carry him in between the 
rows of corn. 

Lincoln. then started after him, and the little 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER ^3 

fellow, screaming with delight, ran faster than 
ever. Meanwhile the neighbors had been at- 
tracted by the noise, and some were looking out 
of the windows and doors of the nearest houses, 
while some stopped on the sidewalk, all laughing 
at the chase of the little naked boy by his great, 
tall father, Avho was now quite a celebrated man. 
It took the father but a few minutes with his long 
strides to catch the runaway, who, when he 
reached him, was laughing in roguish glee. Lin- 
coln picked him up, and covering his rosy little 
body with many kisses, tossed him on to his shoul- 
ders, put his legs about his neck, and so carried 
him in triumph back to his mother and the tub, 
to the great amusement of the neighbors. 

Lincoln studies Shakespeare and Poetry 

During the six years following his retirement 
from Congress, Lincoln studied a great deal, de- 
voting much time to poetry and geometry. Shake- 
speare especially attracted him, and when travel- 
ing on the circuit, Lincoln was always the first to 
be up in the morning, many times his room-mates 
and fellow-travelers awakening to find him repeat- 
ing over or committing to memory some verses of 
poetry. p 

Tell me, Ye Winged Winds, by Mackey; Im- 
mortality; and later. Why Should the Spirit of 
Mortals be Proud, were his favorite poems. Dur- 



74: LINCOLN IN STORY 

ing this period Elmer E. Ellsworth, of Zouave 
fame, was for a short time in Lincoln's office as a 
student of law. 

The Widoi&s Pension Case — ^' Skin Wright and 
Close " 

At this time, while Lincoln Avas thus making 
a great name as a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, 
an old woman, crippled and bent with age, came 
hobbling into the office one day and told the story 
of her suffering and injustice. She related how 
one-half of her pension of four hundred dollars, 
all she had in the world to depend upon, had been 
kept by the pension agent (a Mr. Wright), who 
refused to give her the balance. 

Mr. Lincoln was so stirred \x\) by the recital 
that he at once put on his hat, and, walking over 
to the agent's office, made a demand for a re- 
turn of the money at once. This being refused, 
the suit was immediately brought before the 
court. 

A few days before the trial Lincoln refreshed 
his memory of the Revolutionary War by reading 
some parts of the history over again. 

He said to his partner, Mr. Herndon, before 
the trial: ^^ You'd better stay until after my ad- 
dress to the jury, for I'm going to skin Wright 
and get that money back for the widow." 

After the poor old woman had, through her 




Tile Liiicclii residence, Springfield. 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 75 

tears, told her story to the jury, Lincoln arose and 
began his address by recounting the causes lead- 
ing to the outbreak of the Revolutionary struggle. 
He then drew a vivid picture of the hardships at 
Valley Forge, describing with minuteness the men, 
barefooted and with bleeding feet, creeping over 
the snow and ice. As he told of the cruel treat- 
ment of the old lady by the pension agent his eyes 
flashed with indignation, an eye-witness stating 
that '' he never saw Lincoln so wrought up." 

Before he closed his speech he drew an ideal 
picture of the w^oman's husband, the dead soldier, 
parting with his wife at the threshold of their 
home, and kissing their little babe in the cradle 
as he started for the war. 

" Time rolls by," he said in conclusion ; " the 
heroes of '76 have passed away and are encamped 
on the other shore. The soldier has gone to rest, 
and now, crippled, blinded, and broken, the widow 
comes to you and to me, gentlemen of the jury, 
to right her wrongs. She was not always thus: 
she was once a beautiful young woman. Her step 
was elastic, her face was fair, and her voice as 
sweet as any that rang in the mountains of old 
Virginia. But now she is poor and defenseless ; 
out here on the prairies of Illinois, hundreds of 
miles away from the scenes of her childhood, she 
appeals to us, who enjoy the privileges achieved 
for us by the patriots of the Revolution, for our 



76 LINCOLN IN STORY 

sympathetic aid and manly protection. All I ask 
is, Shall we befriend her? '^ 

At the conclusion half the jurymen were 
in tears, while the pension agent sat, ashamed, 
drawn up, and writhing under Mr. Lincoln's 
fierce invective. The jury returned a verdict 
in favor of the widow, who could not find words 
to express her gratitude to Mr. Lincoln. Lin- 
coln was so much interested in the woman that 
he became security for her costs, paid her way 
home, as well as her hotel bill while attending the 
suit. He also sent her the money and would not 
take a penny for his services. 

Lincoln's notes for the case were as follows: 
^' 'No contract. — E'ot professional services. — 
Unreasonable charge. — Money retained by the 
agent not given by the widow. — Kevolutionary 
AVar. — Describe Valley Forge privations. — Ice. — 
Soldiers' bleeding feet. — The wonum's husband. — 
Ski)i }V right. — Close." 

Lincoln gives a Mean Man some Good Advice 

One of Lincoln's chief traits of character was 
his love of truth and justice. As a lawyer he 
would never take a case to defend a guilty man; 
but many times he would give his services for 
nothing in defending an innocent person. 

Mr. ITerndon, his ])artner, tells of a case where 
a mean man came to see Lincoln about suing a 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 



i ^ 



poor widow witli six eliildron, and after lieaving 
him state his case Lincoln said to him: '' Yes, 
there is no reasonable doubt but that I can gain 
your case for you. I can set a whole township at 
loggerheads; I can distress a poor widow and her 
six fatherless children, and thereby get for you six 
hundred dollars which rightfully belongs, it ap- 
pears to me, as much to them as to you. I shall 
not take your case, but I will give you a little ad- 
vice for nothing. You seem an active, energetic 
man. I would advise you to try your hand at 
malting six hundred dollars in some other ivay.^^ 

Lincoln'' s Candor — He gives his Opjwnenfs their 
Case because his Clients tvere in the Wrong 

A lawyer in Eeardstown, Illinois, said, speak- 
ing of Lincoln : '^ He came into my office one day 
with the remark, ^ I see you've been suing one of 
my clients, and Fve come down to see about it.' 
He spoke about a suit I had brought to enforce 
the fulfillment of a contract. I explained the case 
to him, and showed my proofs. He seemed sur- 
prised that I should deal so frankly with him, and 
said he would be equally frank with me. 

" He said my client was justly entitled to the 
decree of the court, and he would so state it at the 
trial; and that it was against his principles to con- 
test a clear matter of right. So my client got a 
deed for a farm which, had another less honest 



Y8 LINCOLN IN STORY 

lawyer been in Lincoln's place, Avonld have been 
eaten up by the costs of the suit, and the final 
result would have been the same.'' 

Lincohi's Defense of William Armstrong 

By this time Lincoln & Herndon had become 
one of the best-known and most reliable law firms 
in the State of Illinois. 

Their services were in great demand, not only 
because of the well-known shrewdness of Mr. Lin- 
coln, but also because of his honesty, his truthful- 
ness, and absolute reliability. Before entering on 
the next period, which will be devoted to the poli- 
tician and statesman, it may be as well to relate 
here the story of Lincoln's defense of William 
Armstrong, although it occurred in 1858, after he 
had practically given up law practise for two 
years, and while he was engaged in the great cam- 
paign which resulted, two years later, in his elec- 
tion as President of the United States. 

William Armstrong, the son of Lincoln's old- 
time friend, Jack Armstrong (one of the " Clary's 
Grove boys," with whom he had wrestled at ^ew 
Salem), had been arrested for a murder in May, 
1858, at Beardstown, Illinois. It appeared that 
Armstrong and a companion, after getting quite 
drunk, had quarreled with a man named Metzger, 
and that blows had passed between them. The 
day following the quarrel Metzger died, and two 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 79 

serious wounds upon his head indicated that he 
had been struck by some weapon in the hands of 
another. man. The evidence all tended to prove 
Armstrong guilty, though he stoutly affirmed his 
innocence, and stated that he had only struck him 
with his fist, and not very hard either. It was also 
shown that the man Metzger, on his way home 
with his yoke of oxen, had been hit on the head 
by the end of the yoke and knocked down. Still, 
one man swore that he saw Armstrong strike him 
with a sling-shot. 

Lincoln, responding to Armstrong's mother's 
appeal, left his campaign speeches and went down 
to see what he could do to help the poor boy out 
of his difficulty, and if possible save him from 
the gallows. After he had talked with Armstrong, 
he was convinced of his innocence. 

When the trial came on^ however, the testi- 
mony of one man was so positive that he had 
seen the blow struck, that Lincoln's case seemed 
hopeless. 

But Lincoln said, " How could you have 
seen him strike the fatal blow when, accord- 
ing to all the evidence, the quarrel occurred be- 
tween eleven and twelve o'clock at night, where 
there was no light of any kind near? " 

The man quickly replied, ^' I saw it by the 
light of the moon." 

This seemed decisive, and Lincoln appeared 



80 LINCOLN IN STORY 

for tlic moment to he discouraged. There was 
so much at stake, however — not only young- 
Armstrong's life, but his widowed mother's happi- 
ness also — that Lincoln, after the court adjourned 
for the day, kept thinking and worrying over it. 
All at once he thought, '^ Suppose I can prove 
that the moon was 7iot shining that night, and that 
therefore this man's evidence is false ! " So he 
hunted up the almanac, and before he went to bed 
that night he felt sure he would succeed in freeing 
his old friend's unfortunate boy. 

IS^ext day wdien he opened his address for the 
defense he laid especial stress upon the testimony 
of this one man, and pointed out that his was the 
only direct evidence against the prisoner. 

After making it plain to the jury that with- 
out this man's moonlight story there was noth- 
ing upon which to convict his client, he said: 
^' E^ow, gentlemen of the jury, I propose to 
prove to you that this evidence is absolutely false. 
I hold in my hand the proof that upon the night 
of the supposed murder there was no moon in the 
sky, but that it had set several hours before the 
time the fight occurred." 

He then handed the almanac, which he had 
brought with him, to the jury, and the sensation 
created by Lincoln's discovery was plainly shown 
in the faces of the men. 

The advantage he had thus gained he followed 



FIFTH PERIOD: LEGISLATOR AND LAWYER 81 

up with an eloquent appeal in favor of Armstrong. 
He reminded them that old Hannah Armstrong, 
the friend of his youth, had begged him to de- 
fend her boy; that he had no other interest in 
the trial than securing justice for the prisoner. 
He Avas not working for a fee, but for the cause 
of right. 

He told the jury of his once being a poor, 
friendless boy himself; that Armstrong's parents 
took him to their house, fed, and clothed him, and 
gave him a home. As he went on with his per- 
sonal narrative his eyes filled with tears, his voice 
choked, and his tall form quivered with the pow- 
erful emotions that swept over him as he thought 
of his own early struggles in life. 

The story, so pathetically told, moved the jury 
to tears also, and they forgot the supposed guilt 
of the prisoner in their admiration and sympathy 
for his advocate. 

On the morning of the trial, Lincoln had told 
the mother, " Your son will be free before sun- 
down,^' which proved true, for the jury brought 
in a verdict of " ^ot guilty." 

The defendant's mother, Hannah Armstrong, 
speaking of it afterward, said: " Lincoln had said 
to me, ^ Hannah, your son will be cleared before 
sundown.' I left the court-room, and they came 
and told me that my son was cleared and a free 
man. I went up to the court-house. The jury 
6 



82 LINCOLN IN STORY 

shook hands with me; so did the judge and Lin- 
coln. Tears streamed down Lincoln's cheeks. I 
asked him after the trial what his fee would be. 
^ Why, Hannah/ he sjid, ^ I sha'n't charge you a 
cent, and anything else I can do for you I will do 
it willingly without charge.' '' 



SIXTH PEEIOD: THE STATESMAN 

(1855-1860) 



CHAPTEK X 

Lincoln .again enters the field of politics — Chosen to answer 
Douglas — Assists in organizing the Republican party — An 
audience of two — Challenges " the Little Giant " — The 
great speech on the Declaration of Independence — The 
question which defeated him for the Senate — " The bul- 
wark of liberty" speech — Nominated and elected Presi- 
dent — Prophetic soliloquy — He leaves Springfield — The 
plot to assassinate him at Baltimore. 

The outrages in tlie States of Kansas and 
ifissouri in 1855, following tlie passage of the 
Kansas and Xebraska bill, wliicli originated with 
Stephen A. Douglas and admitted slavery 
into those States, aroused Lincoln from his long 
silence; and when Douglas returned to Illinois 
as the lion of the day, and opened the campaign 
in Springfield with a speech in defense of his 
bill, which had been passed by Congress, Lincoln 
was chosen by his party to answer him. This he 
did with such great success that the Springfield 
Journal said: 



84 LINCOLN IN STORY 

" The anti-Nebraska speech of Mr. Lincoln 
was the profoiindest, in our opinion, that he has 
made in his whole life. He felt upon his soul the 
truths burn which he uttered, and all present felt 
that he was true to his own soul. His feelings 
once or twice swelled within, and came near sti- 
fling utterance. He quivered with emotion. The 
whole house was still as death. He was most 
successful, and the house approved the glori- 
ous triumph of truth by loud and continued 
huzzas." 

At the instigation of his friends, he followed 
Senator Douglas and made speeches either imme- 
diately after him in the same town, or by arrange- 
ment with him upon the same platform. Douglas, 
however, soon tired of his agreement, and begged 
Lincoln's consent to give up the mutual de- 
bates. 

Lincoln was elected to the Legislature during 
this campaign, but resigned, intending to run for 
the United States Senate. This he did, but was 
defeated by Lyman Trumbull. 

While Lincoln was always against slavery, he 
did not sanction the methods of the abolitionists. 
He declared, " Let there be peace. Revolutionize 
through the hallot-hoXy and restore the Government 
once more to the affections and heai^ts of men hy 
making it express ^ as it was intended to do, the 
highest spirit of justice and liherty.^^ 



SIXTH PERIOD: THE STATESMAN 85 

Lincoln assists in organizing the Republican Party 
in the State of Illinois 

Lincoln assisted in the organization and foun- 
dation of the Kepublican party in Illinois at a con- 
vention held in Bloomington, in May, 1856, mak- 
ing there an inspired speech and taking a bold 
stand against slavery. Upon his return to Spring- 
field a public meeting was advertised to ratify the 
work of the convention ; but so unpopular were his 
views at that time that only one person came, aside 
from Mr. Lincoln's owia. partner. A Republican 
governor was elected, however, and Lincoln re- 
turned at the end of the campaign as the acknowl- 
edged leader of the party in the State — the only 
man who had been able to cope successfully with 
" the Little Giant,^ as Douglas was called. 

Lincobi, nominated for the United States Senate, 
challenges Douglas to Public Debate 

Li 1858 the Demecratic party nominated 
Douglas again for the United States Senate, and 
the Republican party in its convention resolved 
^' That Hon. Abraham Lincoln is our first and only 
choice for United States Senator." In his opening 
speech at Springfield, June 17, 1858, he spoke as 
follows : 

" A house divided against itself can not stand. 
I believe this Governmeiit can not endure perma- 
nently half free and half slave. I do not expect 



86 



LINCOLN IN STORY 



the Union to be dissolved, I do not expect the 
house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be 
divided. It will become all the one thing or the 
other." 

Lincoln challenged Douglas to a joint debate, 
and seven meetings were arranged. These at- 
tracted the attention of the entire country, and 
gave Lincoln a national reputation. 

In the last joint discussion with Douglas, Lin- 
coln said : " Slavery is the real issue. That is the 

issue that will continue in 
this country when these 
poor tongues of Judge 
Douglas and myself shall 
be silent. It is the eter- 
nal struggle between 
these two principles — 
right and wrong — 
throughout the world. 

^' The one is the com- 
mon right of humanity, 
and the other the divine 
right of kings. It is the 
same spirit that says ^ You 
work and toil and earn bread, and I eat it.' 'No 
matter in what shape it comes, whether from the 
mouth of a king, who seeks to bestride the people 
of his own nation and live by the fruit of their 
labor, or from one race of men as an apology for 




SIXTH PERIOD: THE STATESMAN 87 

enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical 
principle/^ 

Lincohi's Great Speech on the Declaration of 
Indepe7idence 

One of the greatest speeches Lincoln made 
during this remarkable campaign was at Beards- 
tovN'n, Illinois, on August 12th, the subject chosen 
being the Declaration of Independence. 

After alluding to the suppression of the slave- 
trade by the fathers of the Republic, he said : 

'^ These by their representatives in Old Inde- 
pendence Hall said to the whole race of men: 
^ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all 
men are created free and equal; that they are en- 
dowed by their Creator wdth certain inalienable 
rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness.' 

^' This was their majestic interpretation of the 
economy of the universe. This was their lofty 
and wise and noble understanding of the justice 
of the Creator to his creatures, to the whole great 
family of man. In their enlightened belief, noth- 
ing stamped with the divine image and likeness 
was sent into this world to be trodden on and de- 
graded and imbi^iited by his fellows. 

" Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the 
tendency of prosperity to beget tyrants, and so 
they established these great self-evident truths, 



88 LINCOLN IN STORY 

that when, in the distant future, some man, some 
faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine 
that none but rich men, none but white men, or 
none but Anglo-Saxon white men, were entitled to 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, their 
posterity might look up again to the Declaration 
of Independence and take courage to renew the 
battle their forefathers began, so that truth and 
justice and mercy, and all humane Christian vir- 
tues, might not be extinguished from the land. 
So that no man would dare to limit and circum- 
scribe the great principles on which the temple 
of liberty was being built. 

" ]N^ow, my countrymen, if you have been 
taught doctrines conflicting with the great land- 
marks of the Declaration of Independence; if you 
have listened to suggestions which would take 
away from its grandeur and mutilate the fair sym- 
metry of its proportions; if you have been in- 
clined to believe that all men are not created equal 
in those inalienable rights enumerated in our chart 
of liberty, let me entreat you to come hach. Beturn 
to tlie fountain whose waters spring dose hy the 
blood of the Revolution. Think nothing of me; 
take no thought for the political fate of any man 
whomsoever, but come back to the truths that are 
in the Declaration of Independence. You may do 
anything with me you choose, if you will but heed 
these sacred principles. You may not only defeat 



SIXTH PERIOD: THE STATESMAN 89 

7ne for the Senate, hut you may take me and put 
me to death. 

" I charge voii to drop every paltry and insig- 
nificant thought for any man's success. It is noth- 
ing; I am nothing; Judge Douglas is nothing. 
But do not destroy that immortal emblem of hu- 
manity — the Declaration of Independence.'' * 

The Question that defeated Lincoln for the United 
States Senate 

Against the unanimous disapproval of all his 
friends, Lincoln, at the Freeport discussion, asked 
Douglas the following question: 

" Can the people of a United States Territory 
in a lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of 
the United States, exclude slavery from its limits 
prior to the foundation of a State Constitution? " 

His friends said: "Douglas will answer it in 
the affirmative and will thus defeat you for the 
Senate." Regarding this Lincoln said to one of his 
intimate friends (evidently looking to the future 
presidency) : '' I am after larger game ; the battle 



* Mr. Horace White, who reported this and other speeches of 
Lincoln for the Chicago Tribune, said of the above address : 
" It was his greatest inspiration. He was tremendous in the 
directness of his utterances. He rose to impassioned eloquence, 
unsurpassed by Patrick Henry, INrirabeau. or Vergniaud, as his 
soul was inspired by the thought of human right and divine 
justice.'' 



90 LINCOLN IN STORY 

of 1860 [the presidency] is worth a hundred of 
this/' 

Lincohi argued with his friends that if Douglas 
should answer the question in the negative it 
would defeat him (Douglas) for the Senate; and if 
he answered it affirmatively it would prevent his 
election to the presidency in 1860, to which both 
were then aspiring. Lincoln's judgment proved 
correct, for Douglas answered the '^ Freeport 
question " affirmatively, and was elected to the 
United States Senate by a vote of fifty-four to 
forty-six for Lincoln. But immediately Douglas's 
speech became known in the Southern slave States 
the entire press denounced his " Freeport heresy " 
in severe language, and it was this revolt of the 
Southern States that rendered Douglas's election 
to the presidency two years later impossible. 

The Bulwark of Liberty Speech 

One of the most powerful and, in places, elo- 
quent addresses delivered by Mr. Lincoln during 
that great contest between the " Little Giant " 
and the " Eail-splitter," was delivered at Ed- 
wardsville, September 13th. Among other things 
he said: 

" What constitutes the bulwark of our liberty 
and independence? It is not our frowning battle- 
ments, our bristling seacoasts, our army and our 
navy. These are not our reliance against tyranny. 



SIXTH PERIOD: THE STATESMAN 91 

Our reliance is the love of liberty which God has 
planted in us. Our defense is in the spirit which 
prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all 
lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you 
have 'planted the seeds of despotism at your own 
doors. Familiarize yourselves with the chaiiis of 
bondage and you prepare your own limhs to luear 
them. Accustomed to trample on the rights of 
others, you have lost the genius of your own inde- 
pejidence, and become fit subjects of the first cun- 
ning tyrant who rises among you.'' 

Lincoln's Prophetic Soliloquy 

" I know there is a God " — " I may not see the end, but it will 
come, and I shall be vindicated." 

The days preceding the election were days of 
intense anxiety to Lincoln. As the campaign w^ent 
on, the opposition assailed him from every pos- 
sible standpoint. His enemies, unable to attack 
his integrity, scoffed at his humble birth, and 
called him an atheist, asserting that he was not a 
church-member and did not believe in a God. 

At this time, Mr. IN'ew^ton Bateman, superin- 
tendent of public instruction in Illinois, states that 
Lincoln called him into his room, which was then 
in the State-house near his o^vn office, and, after 
locking the door, he said : " Let us look over this 
book. I wish particularly to see how the ministers 
of Springfield are going to vote." 



92 LINCOLN IN STORY 

He thereupon produced a book containing a 
careful canvass of the voters of Springfield in 
which each stated his intention. 

The leaves were turned over one by one, and 
then he sat silently for some minutes regarding^ 
memorandum in pencil before him. At length he 
turned to Mr. Bateman with a face full of sad- 
ness, and said: ^^ Here are twenty-three ministers 
of different denominations, and all of them are 
against me but three ; and here are a great many 
prominent members of the churches, a large ma- 
jority of whom are against me. 

" Mr. Bateman, I am not a Christian — God 
knows I would be one — but I have carefully read 
the Bible, and I do not so understand this book," 
and he drew from his breast-pocket a ^N'ew Testa- 
ment. " These men all know,'^ he continued, 
" that I am for freedom in the Territories, free- 
dom everywhere as far as the Constitution and 
laws permit, and that my opponents are for slav- 
ery. They know this, and yet, with this book in 
their hands, in the light of which human bondage 
can not live a moment, they are going to vote 
against me. 

" I do not understand it all." 

Here Lincoln paused for several minutes, his 
features surcharged with emotion. Then he 
walked up and down the room in an effort to re- 
tain or regain his self-possession. Stopping at last 



SIXTH PERIOD: THE STATESMAN 93 

and speaking as though to himself, his voice still 
trembling with the deep emotion which possessed 
him while his cheeks were wet with tears, he 
said : 

" I know there is a God and that he hates in- 
justice and slavery. I see the storm coming and I 
know his hand is in it. If he has a place and 
work for me, and I think he has, I believe I am 
ready. 

^' I am nothing, but truth is everything. I 
know I am right because I know that liberty is 
right. Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I 
have told them that ' a house divided against itself 
can not stand,' and Christ and reason say the same, 
and they will find it so. 

" Douglas ^ don't care whether slavery is voted 
up or down,' but God cares, and humanity cares, 
and I care, and with God's help I shall not fail. 
/ may not see ilie end, hut it ivill come, and I shall he 
vindicated, and these men will find they did not 
read their Bibles right." 

This was spoken as though to himself with a 
sad earnestness of manner impossible to describe. 
After a pause he resumed, addressing Mr. Bate- 
man: 

^^ Doesn't it appear strange that men can 
ignore the moral aspects of this contest? A reve- 
lation could not make it plainer to me that slavery 
or this Government must be destroyed. The 



94 LINCOLN IN STORY 

future would be something awful as I look at it 
but for this rock on which I stand. 

^^ It seems as if God had borne with this thing 
[slavery] until the very teachers of religion have 
come to defend it from the Bible, and to claim 
for it Divine character and sanction, and now the 
cup of iniquity is full and the vials of wrath will 
be poured out.^^ 

Nominated and Elected President 

In the presidential campaign of '59, which 
resulted in Lincoln's election, Lincoln was in- 
vited to speak in New York and other Eastern 
cities. 

His speech in Cooper Union, New York, which 
had been prepared with much care and labor, 
pleased his partisan friends, and made a favorable 
impression on the general public, though the oppo- 
sition ridiculed him, the New York Herald being 
especially severe. 

Upon returning to his home in Springfield, 
Illinois, Lincoln heard himself frequently men- 
tioned as a candidate for the presidency. To one 
friend he wrote, " I do not think I am fit to be 
President." But his friends in Illinois and the 
West would have it otherwise, and at the conven- 
tion held in Chicago, on the third ballot, Lincoln 
was nominated, and on November 6, 1859, he was 
elected President of the United States, by a vote of 




Photographed in 18G0. 



SIXTH PEKIOD: THE STATESMAN 95 

1,857,610, Douglas receiving but 1,291,574, Breck- 
inridge, 850,022, and Bell 616,124. 

Preparing to leave Springfield — A Visit to his Aged 
Stepmother 

After the election, Lincoln remained quietly in 
Springfield at his modest home. Before leaving 
for Washington, to assume the duties of the Presi- 
dent, he paid a visit to his aged stepmother in 
Farmington, Coles County, and also to the grave 
of his father, leaving orders to have a suitable 
tombstone provided for it. His affectionate part- 
ing with the good old woman who had loved him 
so much in his boyhood days, and for whom he had 
always maintained a real filial devotion, was very 
affecting. With tears streaming down her 
wrinkled face, she gave him a mother's benedic- 
tion, expressing the fear that his life might be 
taken by his enemies. The scene was most im- 
pressive and left a deep fe'eling of sorrow on the 
soul of Lincoln as he returned to Springfield to 
make ready for his departure to Washington. He 
sold his household goods and rented his house. 
He said to his law partner, Mr. Herndon, as he 
was leaving the office for the last time, speaking of 
the sign-board which swung on the rusty hinges 
at the foot of the stairway : " Let it hang there 
undisturbed. Give our clients to understand that 
the election of a President makes no change in 



96 LINCOLN IN STORY 

the firm of Lincoln & Herndon. If I live I^m 
coming back some time, and then we'll go right on 
practising law as if nothing had happened.'' He 
also said to his partner, who walked with him to 
his home, that " the sorrow of parting from his 
old associations was deeper than most persons 
would imagine, but it was more especially marked 
because of the feeling which had fixed itself in his 
mind that he would never return alive." 

Departure from Springfield and Farewell to his 
Friends 

On the morning of February 11, 1861, the 
President and his party took the train for Wash- 
ington, the intention being to stop over at Spring- 
field, Ohio, Pittsburg, Buffalo, Albany, ^ew 
York, and Philadelphia. At all of these places 
he made short patriotic speeches which made an 
excellent impression throughout the country. At 
the railway station, before the train started, a 
large crowd of friends collected, though it was a 
stormy morning. Responding to their calls, Lin- 
coln stepped out upon the rear platform of the last 
car, and, pausing for a moment to suppress the 
evidences of his emotion, he made the following 
brief address: 

^' Friends: No one who has never been placed 
in a like position can understand my feelings at 
this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I feel at this 



SIXTH PERIOD: THE STATESMAN 97 

parting. For more tlian a quarter of a century I 
have lived among you, and during all that time 
I have received nothing but kindness at your 
hands. 

" Here I have lived from my youth until now 
I am an old man. Here the most sacred ties of 
earth were assumed. Here all my children were 
born. To you, dear friends, I owe all that I have, 
all that I am. All the strange checkered past 
seems to crowd now upon my mind. So I leave 
you. I go to assume a task more difficult than 
that which devolved upon Washington. Unless 
the great God who assisted him shall be with and 
aid me, I must fail; but if the same omniscient 
mind and Almighty arm that directed and pro- 
tected him shall guide and support me, I shall not 
fail — I shall succeed. Let us pray that the God 
of our fathers may not forsake us now. To him 
I commend you all. Permit me to ask that with 
equal sincerity and faith you will invoke his wis- 
dom and guidance for me.'' 

The Plot to Assassinate Lincoln 

Immediately after the election of Lincoln, 
threats were frequently made by the people of the 
Southern States that he should not be permitted 
to take his office. These soon changed to the 
declaration that he should not live to be inaugu- 
rated. But the people of the IN'orth who had 
7 



98 LINCOLN IN STORY 

frequently been disappointed in the defeat of their 
own candidates for the presidency, and had always 
submitted to the law, supposed that these threats 
were the result of the great disappointment and 
chagrin of those office-seekers who thought Lin- 
coln, as the President, meant their own political 
ruin; and who, in the bitterness of their defeat, 
gave vent to their feelings in a thoughtless and 
hot-tempered manner. 

As the time for Lincoln's departure for Wash- 
ington approached, these threats had assumed a 
more definite form; and the press announced that 
there was a rumor in Washington that a plot was 
on foot to kill him before he should reach the 
Capital. 

Mr. E'orman B. Judd and some other per- 
sonal friends of Lincoln in Chicago, as a result 
of these reports, engaged Allan G. Pinkerton, the 
detective, to ferret out the truth of the rumors; and 
men had already been sent to various places, nota- 
bly Washington and Baltimore, to discover the 
plot, and, if possible, prevent its consummation. 

On February 20th, while Mr. Lincoln and 
his party were in N^ew York city passing on their 
way to Washington, a female detective, acting 
under Pinkerton's orders, called on Mr. Judd at 
the Astor House, and presented him with such an 
array of evidence that he became convinced of the 
seriousness of the scheme. 



SIXTH PERIOD: THE STATESMAN 99 

The next day, after they had arrived in Phila- 
delphia, and at Mr. Jiidd's suggestion, Mr. Pinker- 
ton himself met Lincoln and explained to him the 
situation. But the President could not believe it 
possible that his life was really in danger, and, in 
spite of Mr. Pinkerton's warning, did not then 
alter his intention to pass through Baltimore at 
the time already announced. 

Meanwhile the friends in AVashington had not 
been idle, and, entirely independent of, and un- 
known to Pinkerton, had discovered the following 
plot in detail: 

A number of Baltimore " toughs '^ and gam- 
blers, who sympathized with the secessionists, had 
secretly formed a conspiracy to kill Mr. Lincoln. 
They had already hired and partially paid some 
Italian murderers to stab him to death at Balti- 
more, either in the car in which he should be, or 
in the carriage in which he might be riding from 
one station to the other; this plan w^as practicable 
for the reason that the passenger cars could be 
freely approached from both sides as they re- 
mained standing on the tracks, and it w^as calcu- 
lated that an immense crowd would be present 
surrounding the train. In this throng the hired 
assassins were to mingle, and with a number of ac- 
complices were to enter the car and stab the Presi- 
dent one after the other as quickly as possible. 

They planned to escape into the throng, and. 



100 LINCOLN IN STORY 

in the confusion, their numerons accomplices 
were to assist them. A large ocean sailing-vessel 
lay in waiting at a convenient point near hj, on 
which they were to get away from the country. 
In case the President should ride across the city, 
his carriage was to be surrounded by a crowd of 
his enemies, the horses stopped, and the horrible 
crime committed there. 

The son of William H. Seward (afterward 
Secretary of State under Lincoln) brought the 
above details of the plot to Philadelphia and re- 
lated his story to Mr. Lincoln and his friends on 
the evening of the same day (February 21st) that 
Mr. Pinkerton had shown him the evidence he had, 
with his male and female detectives, collected. 

After Lincoln had listened to Mr. Seward's 
story, he asked if he had had any relation to 
or correspondence with Mr. Pinkerton. Being 
assured to the contrary, he became convinced of 
the conspiracy, and finally decided to place him- 
self in the hands of his friends and comply with 
any arrangements they might make which would 
not interfere with his public engagements to speak 
at Independence Hall the next morning (Wash- 
ington's Birthday), and at Harrisburg in the after- 



* In his speech in Independence Hall the following passage 
has a peculiar significance : 



SIXTH PERIOD: THE STATESMAN 101 

Arrangements were accordingly at once made 
to foil the conspirators, absolute secrecy being 
essential, as the city government of Baltimore 
was in the hands of Lincoln's enemies; and wdiile 
not openly daring to take part in snch a horrible 
crime, the police would probably secretly aid in 
its accomplishment. 

It was therefore publicly announced that Mr. 
Lincoln's route to Washington would bring him 
to Baltimore in the forenoon of February 23d, 
after the speech at Harrisburg, while it was 
secretly arranged that he should leave the latter 
place early in the evening, passing through Balti- 
more after midnight and arriving at the Capital 
early on the morning of the 23d. 

To carry out this plan the cooperation of the 
president of the railway company was enlisted. 
That gentleman ordered a special car with an 
engine to be in waiting at Harrisburg at 6 p. m. 
for Lincoln's use. He also held the regular 11 
p. M. train at Philadelphia for Washington, order- 

" It was not the mere matter of separation of the colonies 
from the mother land, but that sentiment in the Declaration 
of Independence which gave liberty not alone to the people of 
this country, but hope to the world for all future time. It was 
that which gave promise that in due time the weights would 
be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should 
have an equal chance. . . . But if this country can not be 
saved without giving up that principle. I was about to say I 
would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it." 



102 LINCOLN IN STORY 

ing the conductor to wait for an " im'portant 
package.^^ 

After his speech before the Legislature at Har- 
risburg and while Mr. Lincoln was yet at dinner 
at the hotel, a carriage was driven up to a side 
entrance. 

Mr. Judd called him from the table, and Mr. 
Lincoln, changing his clothes, put on a Scotch 
cap, and, with a shawl upon his arm, quietly 
and without informing the other members of his 
party, entered the waiting vehicle with Colonel 
Lamon, of Springfield, 111., as his only com- 
panion. 

The '^ special " train (unlighted, except the en- 
gine headlight) was found waiting a little distance 
from the station, and they succeeded in entering 
it without attracting attention. They arrived at 
Philadelphia without incident a little after eleven 
o^clock, where they found the train for Washing- 
ton waiting. 

As soon as Lincoln and his friend boarded the 
train, where a section in a sleeping car was ready 
for them, the " important package " for AVashing- 
ton was handed to the conductor, and the train 
started on its journey, the conductor himself being 
unaware of the fact that he was conveying the 
" man of destiny " to the Capital. Immediately 
retiring to his berth, Lincoln was enjoying a good 
night's rest and passing through the enemy's coun- 



SIXTH PERIOD: THE STATESMAN 103 

try at the very hour the assassins in Baltimore 
were completing the details for his murder. 

Lincoln and his companion arrived safely, and 
without disturbance, in Washington at six o'clock 
in the morning, where Mr. Seward and Elihu 
Washburne met them at the station with feel- 
ings of relief and gratitude, and conducted them 
at once to Willard's Hotel, where Mr. Lincoln 
was to remain until his inauguration. 

His arrival at the Capital surprised and dis- 
comfited the conspirators, but pleased and grati- 
fied the people of the Xorth, who did not, until 
years after, realize the imminent danger to the 
life of their chosen President. 

Colonel Lamon, who accompanied Lincoln and 
was most urgent in his secretly passing through 
Baltimore, afterward discredited the entire story, 
and, in his work, states that Lincoln always deeply 
regretted yielding to his overzealous friends. He 
ridicules the idea and blames himself for the part 
he took in the '' President's flight." 



SEVENTH PERIOD : THE PEESIDENT 

(1861-1865) 



CHAPTER XI 

Events leading up to the great civil war — Treason in the 
Cabinet of President Buchanan — The Southern Confed- 
eracy formed — War begun. 

In order that we may understand tlie great 
and difficult task which Lincoln had before him, 
it is necessary to briefly state the facts which led 
up to the great rebellion. 

After Lincoln's election in November, many of 
the Southern people concluded they would not be 
ruled by a " black abolitionist/' as they called 
him. In December the State of South Carolina 
withdrew from the Union (seceded). 

In February, 1861, six seceding Southern 
States held a convention at Montgomery, Ala., 
forty-two persons only being present. These 
adopted a constitution, and elected Jefferson 
Davis and Alexander Stephens president and vice- 
president, thus setting up a government in op- 
position to the United States, especially for the 
purpose of protecting slavery. 
104 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 105 



Meantime the President in office, Mr. Bu- 
chanan, was surrounded by traitors, who, while 
taking pay for serving and defending the Union, 
were using their power and positions to destroy it. 

Thus the Secretary of War, Mr. Floyd, sent 
to the States in rebellion all the guns and am- 
munition from the ^N^orthern States which could 
be transported. 

The United States Treasury of ^New Orleans 
was taken possession of by the State of Louisiana, 
and five hundred thou- 
sand dollars robbed from 
the Government; Major 
Anderson, commanding a 
small body of United 
States troops at Charles- 
ton, S. C, was shut up in 
Fort Sumter, and a vessel 
sent secretly by the Gov- 
ernment of President Bu- 
chanan to carry them pro- 
visions, etc., was fired on 
by the rebels, shot in sev- 
eral places, and, being unarmed, was compelled to 
return to ^ew York. 

Traitors were ever^^diere, and open threats 
were made against the life of Lincoln — that 
he should be killed, and never be allowed to be- 
come President of the United States. Thus actual 




n^^^-^i 



lc^Cujcu_..— 



106 LINCOLN IN STORY 

war had been declared by these six Southern 
States against the Government some months be- 
fore Mr. Lincohi had become President, and the 
United States Government had been robbed of 
ahnost every means of defending itself. 

Indeed, in the Southern States, troops were 
being armed with the guns taken from the Gov- 
ernment before Lincoln had become President. 
The excitement throughout the country was very 
great. 

People did not" at first understand that the 
seceding of these States meant the destruction of 
the Union and Kepublican form of government; 
and many said: " Oh, let them go! If they don't 
want to stay in the Union, we don't want to make 
them stay." 

The Southern people also did not realize what 
the few (forty-two) leaders were doing for them. 
They did not think the Northern people would 
fight for the Government; and if Lincoln insisted 
on forcing them into the Union, they thought that 
they, with their troops, would capture Washing- 
ton and set up their own government. 

The rebels, or Confederates, were waiting to 
see if Lincoln should really become President, 
and then what he would do. The Government 
offices in Washington were filled with men in 
sympathy with the South, and treason was every- 
where present. 



SEVENTH PERIOD : THE PRESIDENT 107 

Ex- Senator Dawes describes Lincoln's Arrival in 
Washington 

Ex-Senator Dawes, of Massachusetts, in telling 
some " personal recollections of Abraham Lin- 
coln '^ before the Men's League at Pittsiield, Janu- 
ary 19, 1901, said: 

'^ I remember the first time that I saw Mr. 
Lincoln on that morning when he came to Wash- 
ington ten days before he was to take the oath 
of office as President of the L'nited States. He 
came at a time and in a manner most unfortunate 
for himself and his friends. It had an extraordi- 
nary effect on all classes of people. Lor three 
months previously there had been great apprehen- 
sion in Congress over the safety of the President- 
elect, as it was believed that a conspiracy existed 
to assassinate him and thereby prevent his inau- 
guration." 

Speaking of Lincoln's personal appearance, he 
continued : '^ I never saw a man so unkempt, so 
ill-looking; his hair was disheveled, his clothes 
were the ones that he had worn on the sleeper 
from Springfield. lie was long and angular. It 
seemed as though his body was made up of com- 
ponent parts of different bodies — as though his 
head was not in the right place. Rough and un- 
couth, he was a typical backwoodsman. But there 
was something incomprehensible in his face, some- 
thing unfathomable. 



108 LINCOLN IN STORY 

" About Washington tliere were thousands of 
the poor fellows in camps who had enlisted for the 
service of their country. Every Saturday after- 
noon the Congressmen used to visit those who had 
come from their home districts, and I never went 
among those soldiers but what I saw Mr. Lincoln 
there, l^o mother ever went to Washington to 
intercede for her son that did not go away feeling 
that everything possible had been done for him. 
He was a great lover of justice; he never allowed 
a man to suffer who was not responsible for a 
crime. 

^' I saw him when he came to Washington, 
and I was there when he fell. Just forty days 
before his death I took my little boy to see him. 
The President took him up in his arms and said: 
^ My boy, never try to be President of the United 
States. If you do, you never will be.' 

'^ You talk about your self-made men. He 
wasn't self-made. It was in him. He was created 
to serve his country in that momentous hour. I 
have never doubted that it was a miracle." 

Loyalty of General Scott— The Confederates fire on 
Fort Sumter— Call for Seventy-five Thousand Vol- 
unteers — Sixth Massachusetts Regiment mobbed 
in Baltimore — Pennsylvania, New York, and Mas- 
sachusetts Regiments defend the Capitol 

General Winileld Scott had remained loyal, 
and promised Mr. Lincoln the protection of all 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 109 

the United States troops which he had at his com- 
mand, and so, in spite of threats of his life, and 
treason all about him, he was able to take the oath 
of his office in peace on March 4, 1861. 

On April 14th Fort Sumter, under Major 
Anderson's command, was captured by the Con- 
federates, the Stars and Stripes were hauled down, 
and, at this insult to the nation, a thrill of indig- 
nation passed over the people of the ^orth, arous- 
ing them to their patriotic duty. A great cry 
arose from all parties to defend the flag and the 
Union. 

President Lincoln, the next day, issued a proc- 
lamation calling for seventy-five thousand volun- 
teer troops to defend Washington and the Govern- 
ment property. 

A small regiment from Pennsylvania reached 
Washington a day later; but the Sixth Massa- 
chusetts Pegiment, when passing through Balti- 
more two days afterward, was mobbed, and a large 
number killed and wounded. 

The sympathizers with the South in Baltimore 
now burned the railway bridges leading to Wash- 
ington, and tore up the tracks so as to prevent 
more troops from reaching the Capitol. They also 
destroyed the telegraph, so that for a week, from 
April 19th, the Capitol was cut off from communi- 
cation with the N^orth. But, in spite of these 
efforts of the enemy, the Seventh Regiment from 



110 LINCOLN IN STORY 

'New York, and the Eighth Kegiment from Bos- 
ton, Mass., reached Washington in time to prevent 
its capture; and the loyal people there received 
them with a great demonstration of enthusiasm. 

The Uprising of the North— Douglases Loyalty— His 
Famous Speech 

The people of the Korth were now thoroughly 
aroused, and the tramp of armed men was heard 
in every part of the country from the Atlantic 
coast to the Mississippi River. 

Regiment after regiment marched off with 
flags flying, bands playing, and sometimes the men 
singing the famous war-song, ''Glory, Hallelujah.'' 
The streets of every E'orthern city were filled with 
soldiers, who came together with one common im- 
pulse — to save the Union. Special railway-trains 
of passenger and freight-cars were rushed to 
Washington and other points South. Steamboats 
on the Mississippi River were crowded with vol- 
unteers, who were carried to Cairo, 111., where 
they gathered to defend that part of the country. 
Tn fact, the entire E'orth, West, Imd East was 
ablaze with patriotic enthusiasm and preparations 
for war; the shrill notes of the fife, and beat of 
the drum, being heard from early morning till late 
at night. 

This spontaneous uprising of the masses of the 
people in defense of the flag and the Union, was- a 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT m 

great surprise and disappointment to the South- 
ern conspirators and their followers; and when 
Stephen A. Douglas, who had been the Demo- 
cratic candidate opposed to Lincoln, came out in 
a speech supporting him and his Administration, 
thousands of w^avering ones in the x^orth were won 
over to the Union cause. Douglas showed his 
loyalty to the Union in a most noble and unself- 
ish manner. He was present at Lincoln's inaugu- 
ration and showed his personal friendship by hold- 
ing his hat for him when he made his speech. He 
immediately called on Lincoln and offered to do 
anything he could to assist. Lincoln told him he 
thought the best thing he could do would be to go 
to Hlinois and hold his friends and followers to 
the cause of the LTnion. 

Douglas accordingly v/ent West, and on April 
25th made a great speech to the members of the 
Hlinois State Legislature. In the tumult and 
great excitement of the time, this speech was like 
a trumpet call to arms. 

He stood in the same place where Lincoln had 
stood in opposing him. The veins of his neck and 
forehead were swollen with passion, and the per- 
spiration ran down his face in streams. His voice 
was frequently broken with emotion, and the 
amazing force that he threw into the words, 

" ]Yhen hostile armies are marching under neiv 
a7~id odious hanners against the Government of our 



112 LINCOLN IN STORY 

country y the shortest way to 'peace is the most stu- 
pendous and unanimous preparation for war/' 
seemed to shake the whole buildmg. '^ That speech 
hushed the breath of treason in every corner of 
the State/^ says Mr. Herndon, Lincoln's partner, 
who w^as present at the time. Douglas died shortly 
afterward in Chicago, where a hue monument was 
erected to his memory. 

Lincoln as President — He opposed General Scotfs 
Plan of the Battle of Bidl Run — His Sad Face 

During these days of preparation everything 
depended upon President Lincoln. He was at 
work early and late, and bore the awful burden 
of the great duties of his office with much pa- 
tience. 

He was always to be seen by the people at 
his office, and denied nobody who called. The 
rich and poor were treated alike by him; and his 
honesty, no less than his simplicity of manner, won 
the sympathy and confidence of the people. In 
a few weeks an army of thirty thousand men was 
gathered, and under General McDowell's com- 
mand, on July 21st, the battle of Bull Eun in 
Virginia was fought, the Union troops being 
defeated, and in panic and disorder rushing back 
to Washington. The battle had been planned by 
General Scott contrary to Lincoln's judgment, 
who had pointed out the enemy's strong point, and 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 113 



advised a different plan of attack. The terrible 
slaughter of men, and horrible suffering of the 
wounded, deeply affected the President, and from 
this time on, during the awful bloody battles of 
the great civil war, his 
sadness and mental suf- 
fering showed itself in 
his homely but express- 
ive face. 

The artist who 
painted the picture 
^^ Signing the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation," 
said of the President's 
face: ^' In repose it was 
the saddest face I ever 

knew. There were days when I could scarcely look 
on it without crying." 

The day after the terrible defeat at Bull 
Run the President issued a proclamation calling 
for five hundred thousand troops. 

The organization and drilling of this vast body 
of men took many weeks and months. And few 
battles of importance occurred until the next year, 
1862, though General U. S. Grant, with a small 
army, in September, 1861, entered the State of 
Kentucky at Paducah. 

As it is not the purpose of this book to give 
a history of the great civil war, and yet, as it is nec- 
8 




114 LINCOLN IN STORY 

cssary to know something of that dreadful strng- 
gle in order to understand Lincohi's great services 
to his country in carrying it forward to a successful 
issue and restoring the Union, it has been thought 
best to collect the principal facts and place them 
before the reader in the order of their occurrence. 
(See Appendix.) 



CHAPTEE XII 

The sleeping sentinel and the President. 

Ix September, 1861, during the early part of 
the war, William Scott, a young Green Mountain 
(Vermont) boy, accustomed to going to bed early 
all his life, to sleep long and soundly, and entirely 
unused to military duties, Avas a member of Com- 
pany K in the Third Vermont Regiment. The 
regiment was stationed at Chain Bridge, only a 
few miles from Washington; a most important 
position, upon which the safety of the Capital 
depended. 

One day Scott volunteered to do picket duty 
for a sick comrade, and thus passed the whole 
night marching forward and backward on guard. 
The next day he was himself detailed on picket 
duty and undertook the performance of it. 

It being the second night he had stood guard, 
he found it necessary to make a great effort to 
keep awake; and from hour to hour he struggled 
against the feeling of sleepiness that came over 
him. Finally, his tired body could no longer keep 
on, and he was found in the morning sound asleep 

115 



116 LINCOLN IN STORY 

at his post. For this offense he was tried by the 
military court, found guilty, and sentenced to be 
shot within twenty-four hours. 

His fellow-soldiers all liked him and knew that 
he did not mean to neglect his duty. They felt 
that it was entirely owing to his kindness, in tak- 
ing his sick comrade's place the night before, that 
had brought upon him that fatal sleepiness to 
which he had finally surrendered. 

So his comrades called a meeting, raised a sum 
of money, and sent a committee of three to Wash- 
ington to ask the assistance and advice of Mr. L. 
E. Chittenden, United States Registrar of the 
Treasury, he being a Vermont man, and knowing 
the regiment well. 

This committee, including the captain of the 
company to which Scott belonged, marched into 
Washington early in the morning and called upon 
Mr. Chittenden in the Treasury Building. 

The captain, plainly showing his excitement, 
said : " Mr. Chittenden, I am the man who is to 
blame for this whole affair. First of all, Scott's 
mother opposed his enlistment because of his in- 
experience and youth, and I promised to look 
after him as though he were my own boy. In 
this you see I failed. I must have been asleep 
or stupid myself that I paid no attention to the 
boy's statement that he was so sleepy already from 
standing guard one night for his sick comrade, 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 117 

that he had fallen asleep during the day; why, 
Scott himself said he was afraid he could not 
keep awake the second night on picket duty/' 
continued the distracted captain. 

^' Instead of sending another or going myself 
in Scott's place, as I ought to have done, I sent 
that poor sleepy boy to his death. I am the guilty 
one, Mr. Chittenden. If any one should be shot, 
I am the fellow." * 

Mr. Chittenden said : " What a pity ! Indeed, 
w^hat a pity! The army officers complain of poor 
discipline and many desertions, and say they must 
make an example of this poor boy." 

" But there must be some way to save him," 
returned the captain with tears in his eyes. ^^ He 
is as good a boy as there is in the army, and he ain't 
to blame. You will help us, won't you? " 

To this sentiment all assented, and said they 
had raised among them a sum of money, intend- 
ing to hire a lawyer and have another trial; 
but Mr. Chittenden, at once seeing that nothing 
could be done except an appeal to the President, 
said : 

'' Put up your money, gentlemen. I can not 
take money for helping a Vermont soldier. I 



* From Recollections of President Lincoln and his Admin- 
istr<ation, by L. E. Chittenden. Copyright, 1891, by Harper & 
Bros. 



118 LINCOLN IN STORY 

know the facts in this case of which you know 
nothing. I fear nothing can be done; certainly, 
lawyers and courts can do nothing.'^ 

Finally, after a moment's thought, he added: 
'' Come, there is only one man on earth who can 
save your comrade. Fortunately he is the best 
man in the country. We will go to President 
Lincoln.'' 

Quickly leading the party over to the White 
House, acting entirely upon the impulse of the 
moment, Mr. Chittenden hurried to the little pri- 
vate office where the President was busy writing. 
Looking up, Lincoln good-naturedly exclaimed: 
'' What is this? An expedition to kidnap some- 
body, or to get another brigadier-general ap- 
pointed, or for your furlough to go home and 
vote? I can not do it, gentlemen. Brigadiers are 
thicker than drum-majors, and I couldn't get a 
furlough for myself if I asked it of the War De- 
partment." 

" Mr. President, these men want nothing for 
themselves," spoke up Mr. Chittenden. ^' They 
are Green Mountain boys of the Third Vermont. 
They will fight as long as you need soldiers; 
they don't want promotion until they earn it, but 
they do want something that you alone can give 
them — the life of a comrade." 

''What has he done?" asked the President. 
" You Vermonters are not a bad lot, generally. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 119 

Has he committed murder, or mutiny, or what 
other crime? " 

" Tell him," Mr. Chittenden said to the cap- 
tain. 

'' I can not! I can not! I should stammer 
like a fool! You can do it better," said the 
captain. 

^' Captain, Scott's life depends upon you," 
replied Chittenden, and pushing him forward to- 
ward the President, said: " You must tell the 
President the story. I only know it from hear- 
say." 

Thus, standing before the President, the cap- 
tain, blushing with embarrassment, commenced to 
stammer out his story. 

The President was immediately interested; 
pretty soon the captain's tongue began to speak 
more clearly, and as he gained self-control his 
words flowed freely; he then gave the President 
a very graphic account of the sentinel's misfor- 
tune, ending by saying: 

" He is as brave a boy as there is in the army, 
sir. Scott is no coward. Our mountains breed no 
cowards. They are the homes of thirty thousand 
men who voted for Abraham Lincoln. They will 
not be able to see that the best thing to be done 
with William Scott will be to shoot him like a 
traitor and bury him like a dog. Oh! Mr. Lincoln, 
can vou? " 



120 LINCOLN IN STORY 

As the captain proceeded tlie President's face 
had become very earnest, and an intensely sad 
look pervaded it; as he concluded there was some- 
thing like tears in his eyes, but as the captain fin- 
ished he exclaimed, " No, I can't! " 

Then, quick as a flash, his coimtenance 
changed, and smiling, he broke out into a hearty 
laugh, and turning to Mr. Chittenden, said: ''Do 
your Green Mountain boys fight as well as they 
talk? " 

Then, his manner softening, he went on : " But 
what can I do? What do you expect me to do? 
As you know, I have not much influence with the 
Department." 

Mr. Chittenden answered: ''I have thought 
the matter out. I feel a deep interest in sav- 
ing the boy's life, for I think I knew his father. 
Now, it seems to me that if you would sign 
an order suspending Scott's execution until his 
friends can have his case examined, I might 
carry it to the War Department, and so insure 
the delivery of the order to General Smith 
to-day, through the regular channels of the War 
Oflace." 

'' No," replied Lincoln, '^ I do not think that 
course would be safe. You do not know these 
officers of the regular army. They are a law unto 
themselves. They sincerely think that it is good 
policy occasionally to shoot a soldier." 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 121 

^^ I can see it where a soldier commits a crime 
or deserts the army, but I can not see it in such a 
case as Scott's." 

" They say that I am always interfering with 
the discipline of the army, and being cruel to the 
soldiers.'' 

'' Well, I can't help it. I do not think an 
honest, brave soldier, conscious of no crime but 
sleeping when he was weary, ought to be hanged 
or shot; the country has better uses for him." 

" Captain," continued the President, '^ your 
boy shall not be shot; that is, not to-morrow, or 
until I know more about his case." 

Then turning to Mr. Chittenden he went on: 
^' I w^ill have to attend to this matter myself. I 
have for some time intended going up to the camp 
at Chain Bridge. I will do so to-day, and I shall 
then know that there will be no mistake in sus- 
pending the execution of this poor boy." 

^' But, Mr. President, you are thus undertak- 
ing a burden we did not intend to impose on you," 
said Mr. Chittenden. 

" ;N"ever mind," Lincoln answered, ^' Scott's 
life is as valuable to him as that of any person 
in the land. You remember the remark of the 
Scotchman about the head of a nobleman who 
was beheaded ? He said : ' It was a small matter 
of a head, but it was valuable to him, poor fellow, 
for it was the only one he had.' " 



122 LINCOLN IN STORY 

Seeing that remonstrance was in vain, Mr. 
Chittenden, the captain, and his comrades, after 
expressing their gratitude, departed, the latter re- 
turning to the camp. 

Lincoln's Visit to the Condemned Soldier in his 
Guard-House 

The President, true to his promise, in the 
afternoon left the White House, drove out to 
the Chain Bridge camp, and immediately asked 
to be taken to the guard-house where Scott was 
confined. The boy at once knew the President 
by a medal, with Lincoln's homely face engraved 
upon it, which he had long worn suspended 
around his neck, and he felt so frightened when 
Lincoln came to him, he could hardly speak. But 
the President spoke so kindly and gently to him 
that he soon forgot his fear. 

The President asked him al)out his people at 
home, about the farm, where he went to school, 
who his playmates were, and then he asked about 
his mother and how she looked, and the boy gladly 
took her photograph from his breast-pocket and 
showed it to him. 

The President said: ^' How thankful you ought 
to be that your mother still lives, and if I were in 
your place I should try to make her a proud 
mother and never cause her a sorrow or a tear." 
Many more kind words he said, but as yet he had 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PHESIDENT 123 

not mentioned the dreadful next morning when 
the boy was to be shot. 

Scott thought he was so tender-hearted he did 
not like to speak of it, and still he thought, '^ Why 
sliould he speak about not causing a sorrow or 
tear to my mother when he knows I am to die in 
the morning? '' With this thought Scott con- 
cluded to " brace up " and tell the President he 
did not feel guilty of any crime, and he would 
ask him as a special favor if he couldn't fix it up 
so that the firing party who were to shoot him 
might be drawn from another regiment, because 
it was so hard to die from the hands of his own 
comrades. 

His resolution to " speak up," however, was 
cut short by the President, who now stood up and 
said: 

" My boy, stand up and look me in the face." 
As Scott stood up, the President continued : " My 
boy, you are not going to be shot to-morrow. I 
believe you when you tell me you could not keep 
awake. I am going to trust you and send you 
back to your regiment." 

At this Scott's eyes filled with tears, his lips 
quivered, and his throat was filled with a great 
lump. He could hardly control his emotion or 
find power to speak his surprise and gratitude. 

He had ex]iectcd to die the next morning, and 
had become used to thinking of it that way. To 



124 LINCOLN IN STORY 

have it all changed in a minute ! It was too much. 
The President went on: 

'^ But I have been put to a great deal of trouble 
on your account. I have come up here from 
Washington, where I have many duties to attend 
to, and what I want to know is, how are you going 
to pay my bill? '' 

The soldier finally choked down his sobs and 
said: 

^' I am grateful, Mr. Lincoln. I hope I am as 
grateful as ever a man can be to you for saving 
my life. But it is so sudden and unexpected like, 
I didn't lay out for it at all. But there must be 
some way to pay you and I will find it after a 
little.'' 

A happy thought seemed to occur to him, and 
he continued: 

" There is the bounty in the savings-bank, and 
I guess we could borrow some money on the farm 
by mortgaging it; then there will be my pay as a 
soldier, and I guess if you will wait till pay-day 
the boys in the regiment will help, and so we can 
make it up, if it isn't more than five or six hun- 
dred dollars." 

Lincoln, sadly smiling, replied : " But it's a 
great deal more than that." 

" Then I don't just see how, but I'm sure 
I can find some way to pay it if I live," said 
Scott. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 125 

The SentincVs Solemn Oath 

Tlie President, placing his hands on the boy's 
shonlders and looking him in the eye, as though 
he was sorry, said very earnestly: "My boy, my 
bill is a large one. Your friends can not pay it, 
nor your bounty, nor the farm, nor all your com- 
rades! There is only one man in the world who 
can pay your bill, and his name is William Scott. • 

" If from this day William Scott does his duty, 
so that if I were there when he came to die, he 
could look me in the face, as he does now, and say, 
' I have kept my promise and have done my duty 
as a soldier,' then my debt will be paid. Will you 
make me that promise and try to keep it? " 

As the President spoke a great sense of the 
sacredness of his duty to his country came over 
the boy. 

He w^as thrilled as never before with a patri- 
otic desire to give his life in the cause of freedom 
and for the love of this great and good man; and, 
as he answered, standing erect and raising his right 
hand toward heaven, something like a glorious 
light seemed for a moment to shine upon him as 
he solemnly said : " I make the promise, and with 
God's help will keep it." 

Then the boy broke down, and, grasping Lin- 
coln's hand, sobbed convulsively. When he recov- 
ered, the President was gone, and in his hands 



126 LINCOLN IN STORY 

the soldier held an order for his immediate re- 
lease and restoration to his regiment signed by 
the President. 

Scott becomes a Hero in Battle, and dies a Glorious 
Death 

How truly and justly the President judged the 
boy was soon proven, for he became the best sol- 
dier in the regiment, and was always trying to help 
his comrades. He was offered a promotion, but re- 
fused; and when, some months later (in March, 
1862), at a great battle on Warwick River, at 
Lee's Mills, his regiment was ordered to assault 
the enemy, he proved himself a hero worthy of 
the proud name, " An American Soldier." 

It was at four o'clock in the afternoon when 
the charge was sounded; unclasping their belts and 
holding their guns and cartridge-boxes above their 
heads, the Vermonters dashed into and across the 
stream in front of the enemy's rifle-pits and cap- 
tured them. 

Scott was one of the first to reach the bank, 
the first in the rifle-pits and the last to retreat, for 
the enemy was found to be too strong, and the 
Vermonters, being unsupported by other troops, 
were ordered to retreat, which they did under a 
terrible fire, leaving half their number on the field. 

In the retreat Scott carried a wounded officer 
across the river and saved his life. He then re- 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 127 

turncfl, in tlie face of the enemy, alone, and again 
bronght over a wounded comrade. Once more 
he returned, and the enemy this time made him a 
target, yet he succeeded in rescuing the last man 
who was left on the opposite bank, but fell as he 
reached the shore completely riddled with bullets. 

He was carried oil the field by his comrades; 
but was so strong and powerful that he lived until 
the next morning. Then his comrades gathered 
about his cot, as he was about to die, and he sent 
this last message to the President, who had saved 
his life: 

^' Tell the President that I have never for- 
gotten the kind w^ords he said to me at Chain 
Bridge; that I have tried to be a good soldier and 
true to the flag; that now, when I know I'm 
dying, I think of his kind face, and thank him 
again because he gave me a chance to fall like a 
soldier in battle, and not like a coward by the 
hands of my comrades.'' 

His face looked happy and contented. Xot a 
groan escaped his lips. 

^' Good-by, boys," he said almost cheerily, 
and closing his eyes, his hands folded across his 
breast, he was dead. 

Scott was buried at the foot of a noble oak- 
tree, his initial letters W. S. were cut into it, and 
his company fired a volley over his grave. 



128 LINCOLN IN STORY 

It was some days before Scott's message was 
repeated to the President by Mr. Chittenden, 
when Lincohi expressed his sorrow at the boy's 
death, and added : '' He was a good boy — too good 
a boy to be shot for obeying nature. I am glad 
I interfered." 

Mr. Chittenden then said : " Mr. Lincohi, I 
wish this matter could be written into history." 

^'Tut! tut!" Lincoln broke in. "None of 
that. You remember what Jeannie Dean said to 
the Queen when begging for the life of her 
sister? " 

" I remember the incident, but not the lan- 
guage," replied Mr. Chittenden. 

'^ I remember both. This is the paragraph in 
point Iritis not when we sleep soft and wake mer- 
rily that we think of other people's sufferings, but 
when the hour of trouble comes, and when the 
hour of death comes — that comes to high and low 
— oh, then, it isn't what we have done for our- 
selves, but what we have done for others that we 
think on most pleasantly! ' " 



CHAPTEK XIII 

" A little more light and a little less noise " — Lincoln's judg- 
ment produces the Monitor and revolutionizes the naval 
warfare of the world — Badly scared millionaires of New 
York rebuffed by Lincoln — The girl with a singing in 
her head — A mysterious Englishman advances five million 
dollars to our Government. 

During these eventful years, the dreadful 
losses of life in battle, the terrible defeats at Bull 
Eun, Manassas, Antietam, etc., produced a feeling 
of intense anxiety throughout the Xorth which 
at times vented itself in faultfindings frequently 
most unjust. Editors of many papers did not 
scruple to blame the President for everything. 
lie was thus often made to carry the burdens of 
misfortunes resulting from bad generalship at the 
front, for which he was, of course, in no way re- 
sponsible. He was also criticised most harshly by 
Horace Greeley, who had always opposed him, 
and other radical abolitionists, because he did not 
at once issue a proclamation of emancipation. 
The President, bowed with the awful responsibili- 
ties of the great conflict, and suffering, as he did, 
untold agony on account of the misery and hard- 
9 129 



130 LINCOLN IN STORY 

ships it produced, felt keenly these slurs upon his 
Administration, but struggled bravely on in his 
mighty task, seldom murmuring any complaint. 

On one occasion, however, after the New York 
Tribune had been particularly offensive, a noted 
newspaper correspondent from New York called 
upon Lincoln to urge some special plan of cam- 
paign. The President, weary and worn with many 
midnight vigils, after patiently listening to his 
caller, said: 

" Your New York papers remind me of a little 
story." And then, throwing one of his long legs 
over the other, while a humorous smile played 
about his mouth, he continued: ^' Some years ago 
there was a gentleman traveling through Kansas 
on horseback, as was the custom in those days. 
There were few settlements and no roads, and he 
finally lost his way. To make matters worse, as 
night came on, a terrific thunder-storm suddenly 
arose, and peal on peal of thunder, following 
flashes of lightning, shook the earth or momenta- 
rily illuminated the scene. The terrified traveler 
then got off and led his horse, seeking to guide 
himself as best he might by the flickering light of 
the quick flashes of lightning. All of a sudden a 
tremendous crash of thunder brought the man to 
-his knees in terror, and he cried out : 

" ' O Lord! If it's all the same to you, give 
us a little more light and a little less noise.' " 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 131 

The gentleman appreciated the appropriate- 
ness of this application to the thunders of the 
I^ew York press against Lincoln, and, after laugh- 
ing heartily, assured him he would use his influ- 
ence to ^^ get more light and less noise '' from that 
source. 

Lincoln's Experience as a Boatman gives us the 
Monitor against the Unanimous Opposition of 
the Naval Board of Officers 

In the early part of the war (18G2), the Con- 
federates thought they could destroy the warships 
of the Government by the construction of a large 
floating battery, covered with steel armor, which 
could resist the most powerful cannon-ball then 
known. 

The Government soon heard of the building at 
I^orfolk, Ya., of this monster ram called the Mer- 
rimac, and, as the news spread throughout the 
country, a feeling of terror pervaded the nation; 
for, besides ramming and sinking our war-ships, it 
could also destroy all the commerce of the seas 
and attack and bombard Washington, E'ew York, 
and all the other seacoast towns. 

To meet this iron-clad boat Congress appro- 
priated a large sum of money for the building of 
a similar vessel called the Galena ; but this proved 
a failure, and the money was wasted. 

In this dilemma, Captain Ericsson came for- 



132 LINCOLN IN STORY 

ward with, his plan for tlie construction of an 
armored vessel with its battery placed in a re- 
volving turret on the deck, the deck being almost 
level with the water. 

This plan was placed before the Board of 
JSTaval Construction and was unanimously rejected. 
All the officers of the navy were opposed to the 
scheme, claiming that the heavy weight of the 
armor would sink the ship. Finally, in despair, 
Ericsson presented his plan to the President, who 
at once saw its practicability. 

To the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, who 
said that the armor would sink the boat, Lincoln 
answered : " That is a matter in arithmetic, isn't 
it? We used to figure, on the Mississippi River, 
how much our flatboats and steamboats could 
carry to a pound.'' 

Several meetings of the Board of Construction 
were then called to reconsider the matter, and 
finally the President's good sense and persistence 
prevailed, the board consenting to the construc- 
tion of the Monitor. 

The building of this novel floating battery was 
pushed with great vigor, Lincoln hoping to have 
it finished in time to meet the much-dreaded Mer- 
rimac. 

On January 30, 1862, the Monitor was 
launched, and, to the great surprise and disap- 
pointment of the naval officers, and others who 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 133 



had ridiculed tlie undertaking, when it slid into 
the water the vessel did not sink, but stood several 
inches more above the surface than Captain Erics- 
son had promised. Meanwhile the Confederate 
ram Merrimac was be- 
ing rapidly finished, and 
was expected to come 
out from E'orfolk on 
March 9th. On Friday, 
the 7th of March, the 
President, in an inter- 
view with some naval 
officers, said: ^' You do 
not seem to take our 
little Monitor into ac- 
count. I believe in the 
Monitor and her com- 
mander. They should 
be in Hampton Eoads [A^rfolk] now; she left 
ISTew York two days ago/' 

The officers argued against his faith, saying, 
'' The Monitor is an experiment untried. She may 
be at the bottom of the ocean. We know noth- 
ing of her.'' 

"N^o! no!" said Lincoln. "I respect your 
opinion, as you know, but this time you are all 
wrong. The Monitor was one of my inspirations. 
I believed in her when her designs were first shown 
me. I caught some of the inventor's enthusiasm, 




134 LINCOLN IN STORY 

which has been growing upon me ever since. I 
think she may be the veritable sling with a stone 
that shall smite the Philistine Merrimac in the 
forehead.'' 

The officers then left for the scene of the 
battle (which was expected in Hampton Roads, 
every hour) more hopeful, but not convinced. 

The very next day, Saturday, the 8th of 
March, 1862, the dreaded Merrimac appeared, and 
in a few moments had rammed into and sunk the 
great sloop of war Cumberland, nearly all her 
crew perishing. 

The frigate Congress had been riddled, torn 
in pieces, and left a grounded wreck, her crew 
also perishing. 

The other great ship Minnesota had run 
aground; and the iron monster, apparently satis- 
fied with her day's work of destruction, returned 
to Norfolk with the evident intention of finisn- 
ing the task next morning. 

The news of this terrible disaster to the United 
States navy, spread a feeling of gloom and fear 
over the entire country. Every one was asking, 
'' Where is the Monitor? " 

In the midst of this feeling of fear, Lincoln 
stood firm as a rock in his faith, sending out words 
of hope and encouragement, while his enemies 
were already ridiculing and laughing at Lincoln's 
little " cheese-box," as the Monitor was called. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 135 

Throughout all the Kortlieru cities that Sun- 
day morning prayers were offered in all the loyal 
churches for the success of the President's plans. 

Meanwhile the little Monitor, having been buf- 
feted by the waves of the ocean and driven by a 
storm into shelter, where she lay several hours, 
finally arrived in Hampton Roads, at two o'clock 
Sunday morning, and anchored by the side of the 
Minnesota. Here her officers learned of the ter- 
rible destruction of the preceding day, and pre- 
pared to meet the enemy at daybreak. 

Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac 

The morning opened clear and warm, and 
many people gathered on the banks to witness the 
battle. 

The Confederates, jubilant over their victory 
of the day before, came to see the destruction of 
the United States battle-ship Minnesota, and the 
triumphant departure of their iron-clad monster 
for the ^N'orthern cities, to destroy, levy tribute, 
and humiliate the despised " Yankees." 

Among those on the opposite bank were many 
officers and officials of the Government at Wash- 
ington, who had hurried dowm to see if " Lincoln's 
cheese-box," as many had sneeringly called the 
Monitor, would " really accomplish anything." 

They were possessed of a great fear and anx- 
iety, owing to the terrible destruction the Merri- 



136 LINCOLN IN STORY 

mac had wrought the day before, and this feeling 
of dread was emphasized by the appearance near 
by of the wrecks of the Cmnberland and the Con- 
gress. 

It was shortly after simrise when the anxious 
watchers on board the Minnesota discovered thick 
black smoke arising in the direction of N^orfolk, 
and soon the Merrimac hove in sight. 

As she rapidly approached, intending to ram 
and sink the Minnesota, her officer discovered a 
little round thing, which in the distance looked as 
much like a big stove-pipe hat as anything, float- 
ing on the water near her intended victim. Pres- 
ently it was seen to move, and was coming toward 
them, and they soon discovered that it was the 
round turret of the Monitor, for her deck was so 
low (being but a few inches above the water) it 
could scarcely be seen. 

The little " cheese-box on a raft " showed no 
fear of the approaching iron ram. As soon as the 
Merrimac came in sight. Lieutenant Worden, com- 
mander of the Monitor, ordered "full steam 
ahead," and bravely advanced to meet her. 

It was a moment of supreme and awful sus- 
pense ! 

It seemed impossible that the little thing with 
but two guns in its revolving turret could whip 
that formidable floating fortress of steel, with its 
ten guns, which was bearing down upon her. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT I37 

As they iieared each other, the Washington offi- 
cials on the bank held their breath in fear and 
dread. 

But in spite of this feeling, the brave and un- 
daunted advance of the Monitor, carrying the be- 
loved emblem of Liberty, aroused a certain feeling 
of pride. 

It seemed so audacious ! It was a pygmy chal- 
lenging a giant! It was David and Goliath over 
again. 

The suspense was, however, soon broken by a 
shot from the Merrimac, which struck close to but 
did not hit the Monitor. Then, veering around, 
the Merrimac delivered her broadside of four guns. 
Some of these hit the deck of the Monitor, but 
glanced off, doing no harm. 

The Union officers began to breathe again, 
but, "Wliy didn't the Monitor reply to their 
fire?" 

Ah! Lieutenant AVorden was waiting for 
closer contact! 

Xow the important moment had arrived, and 
from the turret of the Monitor there came the 
sharp retort of solid shot, followed quickly by the 
second gun, which revolved into place with perfect 
ease. 

The tremendous crash of these solid shot on 
the steel armor of the ram could be heard over 
the thunders of the guns themselves, and the feel- 



138 LINCOLN IN STORY 

ing of dread in the hearts of the Union men 
changed to wonder and hope. 

Again the Merrimac delivered her broadside, 
and this time a shot struck the Monitor's turret 
fairly, but it glanced off, doing no apparent harm. 

This began to look encouraging, indeed, and 
some of the Union officers who had scoffed at Lin- 
coln's '' cheese-box " experienced a sudden change 
of heart, one of them exclaiming to his friend in 
an absent-minded way, '^ What a wonderful man 
^ Old Abe ' is, anyway ! " 

The Merrimac, after trying vainly to beat off 
her persistent little foe with shot and shell, finally 
determined to ram her. 

Awaiting a favorable moment, her commander, 
Colonel Wood, gave the order, and with " full 
steam ahead " she rushed upon her diminutive 
opponent. This sudden movement produced a feel- 
ing of consternation in the minds of those watch- 
ing the fight on the Union side. 

It seemed that the great iron-clad vessel would 
crush her antagonist by mere force of weight 
alone ; and, as she swiftly rode forward, the Moni- 
tor, lying almost broadside to her, seemed a help- 
less thing, doomed to certain annihilation. 

Again the watchers on shore caught their 
breath, and experienced a feeling of pity that such 
a brave and Avell-fought little craft should be de- 
stroyed by brute force alone. But lo! when the 








% 



The MoTiitor attaekiiiE: the Merriinac. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT I39 

ram struck the Monitor it did not sink or split, 
but was merely shoved along, until it swung around 
close to the side of her enemy. 

In this favorable position the Monitor deliv- 
ered her fire rapidly and with telling effect upon 
the Merrimac. 

One shot, indeed, entered a port-hole of the 
iron monster, causing considerable destruction and 
killing and wounding several. 

Those on land could not repress a shout of 
wonder and joy at this unexpected exhibition of 
endurance of their little defender, for, practically, 
that little insignificant, round turret and two guns 
was all that stood betw^een them and destruction by 
this dreaded " ram." 

It was the knight-errant of invention and sci- 
ence fighting for Columbia and her cause. 

Soon after this the Merrimac gave up the con- 
test and steamed back to I^orfolk as fast as pos- 
sible, having been seriously injured by the Moni- 
tor's fire and fairly beaten. 

The latter remained, the unpretentious victor 
of one of the most momentous events in the history 
of naval warfare. 

The officials and people of the Union side sent 
up a great shout when they saw the boasted " ram," 
the iron " terror " of the Confederacy, whipped, 
and cheers upon cheers were heard from the offi- 
cers and men on the Minnesota who had been saved 



140 LINCOLN IN STORY 

from destruction by Lincoln's " cheese-box." Tbe 
Washington officials rushed to the telegraph office 
at Newport 'News, near by, and sent the glorious 
news to the President, who immediately had it sent 
over the wires throughout the nation, and people, 
who had gone to church in the morning filled with 
gloom and apjDrehension, returning from the serv- 
ice were greeted by the newsboys shouting, 
^' Great victory of the Monitor over the Merri- 
mac!" 

The Assistant Secretary of the ISTavy after- 
ward, speaking of the fight which he witnessed, 
said : ^^ The splendid handling of the Monitor 
throughout the battle was marvelous. The first 
bold advance of the diminutive vessel against a 
giant like the Merrimac was grand and awe-in- 
spiring. 

" One would have thought the Monitor a thing 
of life; no man was visible. You saw her mov- 
ing around in a circle delivering her fire, always 
at the point of contact, and heard the crash of 
her shot against her armored foe above the 
thunder of her guns. It was indescribably grand, 
l^ow,'' continued the Secretary, ^^ let me make a 
confession, and perform an act of simple justice. 
I never fully believed in armored vessels until I 
saw this battle. I know all the facts combined 
to give us the Monitor. 

" I withhold no credit from Captain Ericsson, 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 141 

lier inventor, but I know that the country is prin- 
cipally indebted for the construction of this vessel 
to President Lincoln and for the success of her 
trial to Captain AVorden, her commander." 

The victory was received with loud huzzas and 
great rejoicing throughout the nation. 

Thus it will be seen that the common sense 
and wide experience of the President on the AVest- 
ern rivers during his early life succeeded in accom- 
plishing for this country what the learned and sci- 
entific prejudices of the naval officers would have 
prevented. * 

The Badly Scared Millionaires of Neiv York City 
rebuffed by Lincoln 

The Hon. Schuyler Colfax (who was Yice- 
President under General Grant during his second 
term) related the following incident, pointedly 
showing that the President keenly felt the selfish- 
ness of that class of money speculators who were 
fattening on the misfortunes of the country, and 
enriching themselves by discrediting the Govern- 
ment's legal tenders, while purchasing the bonds 

* One of the last shots of the Merrimac struck the pilot- 
house of the Monitor, seriously injuring Captain Worden's 
eyesight. For a few minutes the boat drifted without direc- 
tion. When Ensign S. D. Greene took his place and turned to 
resume the fight, the Merrimac was already on her way back 
to Norfolk. 



142 LINCOLN IN STORY 

bearing heavy interest, also at a discount, and pay- 
ing for them in the very currency they had pur- 
posely cheapened. It was in March, 1862, during 
the exciting days related in the previous story of 
the Monitor, at the time when ^' the dreaded Merri- 
mac " had escaped from Hampton Roads and was 
supposed to be making its way to ^ew York city 
to destroy it as far as possible, that a deputation 
of 'New York's moneyed men waited upon the 
President. 

The newspapers had already announced their 
intended visit, and stated that they represented 
one hundred million dollars. 

The President accorded them an interview 
without delay, the Hon. Schuyler Colfax being 
present at the time. 

The spokesman of the party stated their fears 
for the safety of their city, and pictured the vast 
wealth that might be destroyed, the possible loss 
of human life, and gave every evidence that they 
were badly frightened at the possibility of the 
dreaded monster (the Merrimac) visiting their 
homes. He then introduced one after another of 
the gentlemen, stating that this one was worth ten 
millions, that one seven millions, and another rep- 
resented fifty millions, etc. He further stated that 
they had paid their taxes and had bought the Gov- 
ernment bonds, and felt that their great interests 
should be protected. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 14-3 

At the conclusion Lincoln said: 

" Well, gentlemen, the Government has no 
vessel as yet, that I know of, which can sink the 
Merrimac. The Government is pretty poor; its 
credit is not very good; its legal tenders are worth 
only forty cents on the dollar in Wall Street, and 
we have to pay a high rate of interest on our loans. 
Xow, if I were in your place, and had as much 
money as you say you represent, and was as badly 
frightened as you appear to be, I'd go right back 
to ^ew York and build some war-vessels and pre- 
sent them to the Government." * 

The Girl from Neiv Salem icith a Singing in her 
Head 

Among the numerous delegations which 
thronged Washington during the early part of 
the war was one from Kew York urging the send- 
ing of a fleet of war-vessels and troops to South- 
ern cities — Charleston, Savannah, and Mobile — 
with the object of drawing off the rebel army from 
the Capitol. 

Lincoln listened with great patience and re- 
spect, saying, when they had concluded : " This 
project reminds me f of the case of a girl in New 

* Lincoln once said to David R. Locke (Petroleum V. 
Nasby), *' Wealth is a superfluity of what we don't need." 

f Selected from Carpenter's Recollections, and published by 
permission of The Independent. 



144 LINCOLN IN STORY 

Salem, 111., who was greatly troubled with a sing- 
ing in her head. Various remedies were suggested 
by the neighbors, but nothing afforded relief. At 
last a man came along — a common-sense sort of a 
man [inclining his head deferentially to the com- 
mittee] — who was asked to prescribe for the diffi- 
culty. After due inquiry and examination, he 
said: 

^' ^ The cure is very simple.' 

^^ ^ What is it?' was the anxious question. 

" ^ Why,' replied he, ' make a plaster of psalm- 
tunes and apply to the feet, and draw the singing 
down!'" 

A Mysterious Englishman advances Five Million 
Dollars to the Government * 

In 1862 Mr. Charles F. Adams, our Ambas- 
sador to Great Britain, learned that two armored 
vessels were being built in England for the Con- 
federacy. When completed they were to be taken 
to one of the British West India Islands, where 
the Confederate Government would take posses- 
sion of them, man them with sailors and soldiers, 
arm them with guns, and proceed to destroy all 
the ships of the United States, armed or not, which 
they could find. 

* Rewritten from Recollections of President Lincoln and 
his Administration, by L. E. Chittenden. Copyright, 1891, by 
Harper & Bros. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 145 

In short, tlicy were to be fitted up as pirates, 
to destroy all our ships, and then proceed to attack 
our cities along the seacoast and burn them. 

Mr. Adams, seeing the great danger to the 
Union of these vessels, acted with great energy, 
endeavoring to make the British Government seize 
them, or prevent their departure. 

But the sympathy of the British Government 
was with the South, and, although the case w^as 
plainly one of duty to a friendly government, they 
refused. 

At this time the single telegraph cable to Eu- 
rope became inoperative, and Lincoln and the 
people here, expected soon to hear that these two 
destroyers of commerce, and vessels of murder and 
rapine, would soon be heard from upon our shores. 

Mr. Adams finally succeeded in getting copies 
of the commissions bearing Mr. Davis's (the Con- 
federate President) signature, gi\dng the names 
of his officers to command these boats; and this 
additional proof compelled the British Govern- 
ment to pause and, at the last minute, decide to 
comply with his demand. 

The decision came too late, however, to enable 
Mr. Adams to take advantage of it, as it required 
five million dollars deposit to secure the reten- 
tion of the ships, which would sail within three 
days at the furthest. 

Mr. Adams could not telegraph to Washington 
10 



146 



LINCOLN IN STORY 



to secure tlie money; he knew of no one in Eng- 
land of whom he could borrow such a vast sum 
without security, and it appeared to him that the 
British lawyers had purjiosely put off their de- 
cision so as to make it 
worthless to him. He 
was in despair. 

About an hour 
after the decision of 
the courts reached Mr. 
Adams, and when he 
had given up all hope 
of arresting the ships, 
a quiet-looking gentle- 
man called upon him 
and said : " Mr. Adams, 
may I be favored with 
the opportunity of making the deposit of gold 
required by the decision to obtain the arrest 
of the armored ships?" He continued: "It oc- 
cured to me that even if the United States Gov- 
ernment had that amount to its credit here, there 
might be some embarrassment or difficulty in 
getting it out for immediate use, so, to avoid 
such possible delay, I am prepared to furnish the 
gold at once." 

Mr. Adams was astounded, and grasping the 
gentleman's hand he said : " Had a messenger de- 
scended from heaven in a car of fire I could not 




roo^cu-J 



J^Oy^n^ 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 147 

be more astonislicd. It seems almost like a 
miracle! " 

As soon as he could recover from his surprise 
a great feeliug of relief and happiness came over 
liini, and he could hardly express his feeling of 
gratitude. 

The English gentleman then said: "I must, 
however, insist upon one co7idition, and that is, 
that mj name shall never be made known to any 
one in connection with the matter.'^ 

This Mr. Adams finally agreed to, and thus the 
mysterious Englishman, whose name not even 
Lincoln ever learned, brought timely aid to our 
country, which probably saved millions of dollars' 
worth of property, and prevented much suffering 
and possible death to many loyal Americans. 

Mr. L. E. Chittenden, Chief Kegistrar of the 
United States at this time, relates that Mr. Adams 
agreed to give this mysterious Englishman United 
States bonds to the value of ten million dollars as 
security for this loan. 

This large number of bonds was especially is- 
sued without the customary numbers, and was not 
registered, this being done to conceal the name of 
the Englishman. 

In order to get these printed and delivered on 
board the steamer in time to reach England in 
accordance with the agreement of the Ambassa- 
dor, Mr. Chittenden, the Registrar, worked inces- 



148 LINCOLN IN STORY 

santly, writing his signature without intermission, 
for nearly forty-eight hours. 

As a result of this extra strain upon his nerves, 
his hand became useless, and eventually he was 
compelled to resign his position. However, owing 
to his heroic perseverance and suffering, the bonds 
were delivered on time, and the transaction so 
successfully begun by Mr. Adams was thus com- 
pleted. 



CHAPTEE XIV 

Lincoln's " leg cases " — He dismisses a Union officer for trea- 
sonable language — The widow and her wounded son — How 
Lincoln plowed around the Governor — The "chin fly" 
story — Making a minister out of mud — Writing a pardon 
in bed — Lincoln and the sick drummer — The poor woman 
and her two sons. 

The President so disliked to sign a deatli-war- 
rant that sometimes the judge-advocate general 
of the army despaired of punishing men in the 
army for cowardice and desertion. 

Lincoln would say, after he had explained a 
case, " Well, I will keep this a few days until I 
have more time to read the testimony '' ; or, again, 
^' I must put this by until I can settle in my mind 
whether this soldier can better serve the country 
dead than living." 

Finally, one day the judge brought him the 
case of a soldier who, in the crisis of a battle, de- 
moralized his regiment by throwing down his gun 
and hiding behind a tree. The evidence was plain, 
and not denied — the court-martial condemned him 
to be shot. He had no father, mother, wife, or 
child to plead for him, and the judge thought 

149 



150 LINCOLN IN STORY 

surely this was a case that could only meet with 
the President's approval; but Lincoln, after run- 
ning his fingers through his hair, said: '^ Well, 
after all, judge, I think I must put this with my 
^ leg cases.' " 

''Leg cases!" exclaimed the judge, frowning 
at the supposed levity of the President. '' What 
do you mean by 'leg cases,' sir?" 

" Why, why," replied the President, " do you 
see those papers crowded into those pigeonholes? 
They are cases that you call by that long title, 
' Cowardice in the face of the enemy ' ; but I call 
them for short, my ' leg cases,' and I put it to you, 
and leave it to you, to decide for yourself, if Al- 
mighty God gives a man a cowardly pair of legs, 
how can he help them running away with him? " 

The President dismisses a Union Officer for Treason- 
able Language 

Soon after the battle of Antietam the Presi- 
dent heard many stories of officers and men 
who were hostile to him in the Army of the 
Potomac. 

To these he paid no attention, until one day 
he was told that a major, John J. Key, who was 
on McClellan's staff, had replied to a brother 
officer, who asked the question, " Why was not 
the rebel army ' bagged ' [captured] immediately 
after the battle near Sharpsburg?" that "That 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT I5I 

is not the game. The object is that neither army 
shall get much the advantage of the other. That 
both shall be kept in the field till they are ex- 
hausted, when we will make a compromise and 
save slavery." 

Upon hearing this the President sent a letter 
to the major, informing him of the serious charge, 
and inviting him to disprove it within twenty-four 
hours from date, September 27, 1862. 

In a few minutes the major appeared at the 
White House with the officer who had asked him 
the question. 

The President immediately made the men tell 
exactly what had been said. 

Major Turner answered: "As I remember it, 
the conversation was this: I asked the question 
why we did not ' bag ' them [the Confederate 
Army] after the battle of Sharpsburg? 

" Major Key replied: ^ That was not the game. 
We should tire the rebels and ourselves out; that 
that was the only way the Union could be pre- 
served; then we will come together fraternally, 
and slavery will be saved.' " 

Major Key did not deny this, though he stoutly 
maintained his loyalty to the Union cause. 

The President said : '^ Gentlemen, if there is a 
game, even among Union men, to have our army 
not take any advantage of the enemy it can, it is 
my object to break up the ' game.' " 



152 LINCOLN IN STORY 

He then wrote out an order for the immediate 
dismissal of the officer, saying: 

" In my view it is wholly inadmissible for any 
man holding a military commission from the 
United States to utter such sentiments as Major 
Key is proved to have done. 

^' Therefore, let Major John J. Key be forth- 
with dismissed from the military service of the 
United States." 

The dismissed officer left the room ashamed 
and crestfallen, and his discharge carried fear into 
the ranks of those who were hoping to prevent 
the success of the Union armies, and at the same 
time perpetuate slavery, which caused the war. 

Lincoln afterward said to a friend : " I dis- 
missed Major Key because I thought his silly trea- 
sonable expressions were ^ staff talk,' and I wished 
to make an example." 

The Widoiv and her Wounded Son 

In the spring of 1863, one morning a sad and 
anxious-looking lady appeared at Fort Henry, 
Baltimore, before the commanding officer. 

She said: " I am a widow, a resident of ]^ash- 
ville, Tenn., but although a native of that State, 
I have no sympathy with the rebellion. I have 
an only son who was a student at the outbreak of 
the war, and now, just after the battle of I^ash- 
ville, I learn that, without my consent, he has 



i /r ; < Mit ii .i <i I ii / '' tn < '/ /-^/^rA^> ^f -^-^^y^ ^^^ i' A fa^y^f^ 



Facsimile of draft of the Einaneipation Proclamation. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT I53 

enlisted in the Confederate Army, and has been 
severely wounded and taken prisoner by the Union 
forces. I have been searching for him ever since, 
following him to Louisville, Wheeling, W. Va,, 
and thence to Fort Henry. Here I learn that he 
is in the hospital." 

The mother was anxious to see her boy, but 
only a short time before, orders had come from 
the War Department prohibiting any visitors to 
prisoners of war. 

The surgeon was sent for, and assured the 
faithful mother that her son would recover, and 
finally, to relieve her anxiety, the surgeon said: 

'^ Let me show you, madam, one or two of our 
prisoners' wards, so you may see for yourself how 
well our Government takes care of the sick and 
wounded enemies who are captured." 

The widow gladly accepted the invitation; but 
they had hardly entered the room when the anx- 
ious Avoman discovered her boy through the half- 
opened door of an adjoining room. 

Eushing forward, she exclaimed, '^ Oh, my 
blessed boy, I must see you if I die for it! " and 
quickly reached the cot where her son was lying. 

The astonished surgeon followed, only to see 
her on her knees holding her boy's head on her 
bosom. The kind-hearted surgeon then turned 
away and left them together undisturbed. 

The lady soon returned to the office and said: 



154 LINCOLN IN STORY 

'^ Oh, sir, my boy is sorry he joined the army, and 
wishes to give his parole never to enter the Con- 
federate service again. AVill the authorities permit 
this? May I go again to headquarters? " 

'^ Certainly,'' said the surgeon, and soon after 
she had a letter from the commandant to the 
Secretary of War. 

In two days she returned from Washington 
and told her story: 

" I took your note to General Hoffman, who 
went with me to Secretary Stanton's office. As we 
entered, the Secretary was writing at his desk. 
General Hoffman said : ^ Mr. Secretary, this is 
the lady I spoke to you about. She wishes to 
consult with you about releasing her son, a 
prisoner of war, wounded, in the hospital at Fort 
Henry.' 

^^ The general then left me alone. After a 
minute the Secretary turned in his chair and 
abruptly said, in a severe tone: ^ So you are the 
woman who has a son, a prisoner of war, at Fort 
Henry? ' 

" ^ I am so unfortunate,' I said. Then the 
Secretary shouted in a loud voice : ^ I have noth- 
ing to say to you, and no time to waste over you. 
If you have raised up sons to rebel against the 
best government under the sun, you and they must 
take the consequences.' 

" I attempted to tell him my story, but he 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 155 

would not listen, and fairly yelled at me in an 
insane rage — 

" ' I don't want to hear a word from you. I 
have no time to waste, and want you to go at 
once.' 

^' I left," she said, " and am thankful I escaped 
alive. Oh! why are such men entrusted with au- 
thority? " and she sobbed as if her heart would 
break. 

After a moment of silence the commandant of 
Eort Henry asked if she could go again to Wash- 
ington? She answered, " Yes, but not to see that 
man." 

The next day he drew up a statement of the 
case, addressed to the President, asking a parole 
for the boy, which the surgeon signed, as did also 
the lady. 

After an absence of three days she returned, 
with joy in her face and with tears glistening in 
her eyes. Handing the officer the paper with the 
order freeing her son written in pencil upon it, 
she exclaimed with deep emotion: "My boy is 
free! Thank God for such a President! He is 
the soul of goodness and honor." 

She then gave the commandant the order, 
which read as follows: 

"Geis'ekal: You will deliver to the bearer, 
Mrs. Winston, her son, now a prisoner of war at 



156 LINCOLN IN STORY 

Fort Henry, and permit her to take him where 
she will, upon his taking the proper parole never 
to take up arms against the United States. 

'' [Signed.] Abraham Lincoln." 

The lady then said: " The President treated 
me with the kindness of a brother. When I was 
shown into his presence he was alone; he immedi- 
ately arose and, pointing to a chair by his side, 
said: ^ Take this seat, madam, and tell me what 
I can do for you.' I took the envelope and asked 
if he would read the enclosures. ^ Certainly,' he 
replied, and proceeded to read the documents very 
carefully. When he had finished, he turned to 
me, and with emotion said : ^ Are you, madam, 
the unhappy mother of this wounded and im- 
prisoned boy? ' 

" ' I am,' I said. 

" ^ And do you believe he will honor his parole 
if I permit him to take it and go with you?' he 
continued. 

" ' I am ready, Mr. President, to risk my per- 
sonal liberty upon it,' I replied. 

" ' You shall have your boy, my dear madam,' 
he said. ^ To take him from the ranks of rebellion 
and give him to a loyal mother is a better invest- 
ment for this Government than to give him up to 
its deadly enemies.' 

^' Then, taking the envelope, he wrote with his 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 157 

own pencil the order which you see npon it. As 
he handed it to me he said : ' There ! Give that 
to the commandant at the fort. You will be per- 
mitted to take your boy with you where you will, 
and God grant he may prove a great blessing to 
you and an honor to his country.' " 

The boy was soon removed from the fort, 
and, under the tender nursing of his mother, was 
able, in a few months, to resume his studies in a 
Xorthern college. 

Hoic LiJicohi '' Ploiced Around^^ the Governor 

General James B. Fry related that upon one 
occasion the Governor of a State came to him full 
of complaints against the President about the 
number of troops required from his State, and the 
method of drafting them. 

" I finally took him to the Secretary of War," 
said the general, " where, after a stormy and fruit- 
less interview with Stanton, he went alone to see 
the President. 

" After waiting some hours, anxiously expect- 
ing important orders from the President, or at 
least a summons to the White House to explain 
matters, the Governor returned, and said, with 
a pleasant smile, ^ I am going home by the next 
train, and merely dropped in on the way to say 
^^Good-by!'" 

" He did not speak of his business interview 



158 LINCOLN IN STORY 

with Lincoln, and as soon as I could see the Presi- 
dent I said : ^ Mr. President, I am anxious to learn 

how you disposed of Governor . He Avent 

to your office from the War Department in a 
towering rage. I suppose you found it necessary 
to make large concessions to him, as he returned 
from you entirely satisfied.' 

^' ' Oh, no,' replied the President. ^ I did not 
concede anything. You know how that Illinois 
farmer managed the big log that lay in the middle 
of his field?' 

^' ^ To the inquiries of his neighbors one Sun- 
day, he announced that he had gotten rid of the 
big log.' 

" ' " Got rid of it! " said they. " How did you 
do it? It was too big to haul away, too knotty to 
split, too wet and soggy to burn; what did you 
do?" 

" ^ " Well, now, boys," replied the farmer, ^' if 
you won't tell the secret, I'll tell you how. I just 
plowed around it." 

" ^ I^ow,' said Lincoln, ^ don't tell anybody, 
but that's the way I got rid of the Governor. I 
just ploived around Mm; but it took me three mor- 
tal hours to do it, and I was afraid every minute 
he'd see what I was at.' " 

Thus the great President had settled a difficult 
matter by simply entertaining the Governor with 
his wit and humour for three hours. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 159 

The Presidential Chin-fly Story* 

One day before Lincoln's renomination for the 
presidency, a friend spoke to him of a certain 
member of his Cabinet who was also a candidate 
in opposition to him. 

Mr. Lincoln said: '^ I don't concern myself 
about that. It is important to the country that 
the department over which my rival presides 
should be administered with vigor and energy, 
and whatever will stimulate the Secretary of that 
department to such action will do good. 

" My friend," the president continued, ^' you 
were brought up on a farm, were you not? Then 
you know what a cliin-fiy is. 

" My brother and I," he went on, ^' were 
once plowing on a Kentucky farm. I was driv- 
ing and he held the plow. The horse was lazy, 
but on one occasion he rushed across the field so 
fast that I, with my long legs, could scarcely 
keep pace with him. On reaching the end of the 
furrow I found an enormous chin-fly fastened on 
him, and knocked him off. 

" My brother asked: ' Why did you do that? ' 
I told him I did not want the horse bitten in that 
way. ' Why,' said he, ^ that's all that made him 
go.' 

* Selected from Carpenter's Recollections, and published by 
permission of The Independent. 



160 LINCOLN IN STORY 

^' N^ow/' said Lincoln, ^^ if Secretary has 

a presidential chin-fly on him, I'm not going to 
knock it off, if it will only make his depart- 
ment ^0.'' 

Making a Minister out of Mud 

An incident illustrating Lincoln's keen sense 
of the ludicrous, regardless of the character or 
position of persons or ideas caricatured, occurred 
during the last year of the war. About that time 
a delegation of clergymen waited on the Presi- 
dent in reference to the appointment of army 
chaplains. The delegation consisted of a Presby- 
terian, a Baptist, and an Episcopal clergyman. 
They said that the character of many of the chap- 
lains was notoriously bad, and they had come to 
urge upon the President the necessity of more dis- 
cretion in those appointments. 

^^ But, gentlemen," said the President, " that 
is a matter with which the Government has nothing 
to do; the chaplains are elected by the members 
of the regiments." 

!N^ot satisfied with this, the clergymen pressed 
in turn a change in the system. 

Mr. Lincoln heard them through without a 
remark, and then said: 

^^ Without any disrespect, gentlemen, I will 
tell you a little story. 

" Once in Springfield, 111., I was going off 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 161 

on a short journey, and reached the depot a little 
ahead of tmie. Leaning against the fence out- 
side the station was a little darky bov, whom I 
knew, named Dick, busily digging with his toe 
in a mud-puddle. As I came up I said : ' Dick, 
what are you about ? ' 

" ' Making a church,' said he. 

" ' A church? ' said I. ' What do you mean? ' 

^' ^ Why, yes,' said Dick, pointing with his toe. 
* Don't you see? There's the steps and there's 
the door, here's the pews where the folks sit, and 
there's the pulpit.' 

" ^ Yes, I see,' said I, ' but why don't you 
make a minister? ' 

'^ ^ Laws,' answered Dick with a grin, ^ 'cause 
I hain't got mud enough.' " 

Lincoln Writes a Pardon while in Bed 

Mr. Carpenter, in his interesting little book 
Six Months in the White House, relates the fol- 
lowing: * 

'^ My friend Kellog, representative from Essex 
County, E'ew York, received a despatch one even- 
ing from the army to the effect that a young 
townsman whom he had induced to enlist had, 
for a serious misdemeanor, been convicted by a 

* Selected from Carpenter's Recollections, and published by 
permission of The Independent. 
11 



162 LINCOLN IN STORY 

court-martial and was to be shot the next day. 
Greatly agitated, Mr. Kellog went to the Secre- 
tary of War and urged in the strongest manner a 
reprieve. Stanton was inexorable. ^ Too many 
cases of the kind had been let off/ he said, ' and 
it was time an example was made.' Exhausting his 
eloquence in vain, Mr. Kellog finally said: 

^' ' Well, Mr. Secretary, the boy is not going 
to be shot; of that I give you fair warning.' 

" Leaving the War Department, he went di- 
rectly to the White House, although the hour 
was late. The sentinel on duty told him he had 
special orders to admit no one whatsoever that 
night. 

" After a long parley, by pledging himself to 
assume the responsibility of the act, the Congress- 
man passed in. The President had retired, but, 
indifferent to etiquette or ceremony. Judge Kellog 
pressed his way through all obstacles to his sleep- 
ing apartments. In an excited manner he stated 
that a despatch announcing the hour of the boy's 
execution had just reached him. 

" ^ This man must not be shot, Mr. President,' 
said he. ^ I can't help what he may have done ! 
Why, he is an old neighbor of mine. I can't allow 
him to be killed.' 

" The President had remained in bed, quietly 
listening to the vehement protestations of his old 
friend (they had been in Congress together). He 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 163 

at length said : ^ Well, I don^t believe shooting 
will do liim any good; give me that pen/ and so 
saying, he wrote out a reprieve which gave the 
young man another chance and a new lease of 
life." 

Thus it was that the kind-hearted Lincoln 
brushed official red tape aside and defied all prece- 
dent to save the lives of the soldiers. 

Lincoln and the Sick Drummer Boy 

Among a large number of persons waiting in 
the room to speak with the President on a certain 
day in JSTovember, 1864, was a small, pale, deli- 
cate-looking boy, apparently thirteen years old. 

Mr. Lincoln saw him standing, looking feeble 
and faint, and said: 

" Come here, my boy, and tell me what you 
want." 

The boy advanced, placed his hand on the arm 
of the President's chair, and with bowed head and 
timid accents said : ^^ Mr. President, I have been a 
drummer boy in a regiment for two years, and 
my colonel got angry with me and turned me 
off. I was taken sick and have been in hospital 
for a long time. This is the first time I have 
been out, and I came to see if you could not do 
something for me." 

The President looked at him kindly, and said: 
" Where do you live? " 



164 LINCOLN IN STORY 

" I have no home/' replied the boy. 

"Where is your father?'' continued Lincoln. 

" He died in the army." 

" Where is your mother? " 

" My mother is dead also. I have no home, 
no mother, no father, brother or sister, and " — 
bursting into tears — '^ no friends; nobody cares 
for me." 

Mr. Lincoln's eyes filled with tears, and he 
said: 

" Can't you sell newspapers? " 

" No," replied the boy, ^' I am too weak; and 
the surgeon in the hospital said I must leave, and 
I have no home and no place to go." 

The President at once took out one of his own 
cards and wrote on it, " Take care of this poor 
boy," and addressed it to an official to whom his re- 
quest was law, saying, as he handed it to the boy, 
" There, my little man, you will find some one 
who will care for you." 

The wan face of the little drummer boy 
lighted up with a happy smile as he took the card 
and stammered his thanks, and he went away con- 
vinced that he had at last a true friend in the 
person of the President. 

The Poor Woman and her Two Sons 

An instance showing the President's keen sense 
of justice occurred during the closing year of the 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 165 

war, as related by a Mr. Murtagh, of the Wash- 
ington Republican. Said he: 

" I was waiting my turn to speak to the Presi- 
dent when my attention was attracted by the sad, 
patient face of a woman advanced in life, who, 
in a faded shawl and hood, was among the appli- 
cants for an interview. Presently Mr. Lincoln 
turned to her, saying in his accustomed manner: 

" * Well, my good Avoman, what can I do for 
you this morning? ' 

" ' Mr. President,' said she, ^ my husband and 
three sons all went into the army; my husband 

was killed in the battle of . I get along very 

badly since then living all alone, and I thought 
I would come and ask you to release to me my 
eldest son.' 

" Mr Lincoln looked in her face a moment, 
and in his kindest accents replied: 

" ^ Certainly! certainly! If you have given us 
all and your prop has been taken away, you are 
justly entitled to one of your boys.' 

'^ He immediately made out the order dis- 
charging the young man, which the woman took, 
and thanking him gratefully, went aw^ay. 

" I had forgotten the circumstance," con- 
tinued Mr. Murtagh, " till last week, when hap- 
pening to be there again, who should come in but 
the same woman. It happened that she had gone 
herself to the front with the President's order, and 



166 LINCOLN IN STORY 

ascertained that the son she was in search of had 
been mortally wounded in a recent battle and taken 
to the liosiDital. She found the hospital, but her boy 
was dead or died while she was there. The surgeon 
in charge made a memorandum of the facts on the 
back of the President's order, and, almost broken- 
hearted, the poor woman had found her way again 
into Mr. Lincoln's presence. He was much af- 
fected by her appearance and story, and said: 

" ^ I know what you wish me to do now, and I 
shall do it without your asking. I shall release 
to you yoar second son.' Upon this he took his 
pen and commenced writing the order. 

" While he was writing, the grief -stricken 
woman stood by his side, the tears streaming down 
her face, and passed her hand softly over his head, 
stroking his hair as I have seen a fond mother 
caress her son. 

" By the time he had finished writing, his own 
heart and eyes were full. He handed her the 
paper, saying, most tenderly, and controlling his 
voice with difficulty : ' 'Now you have one and I 
have one of the other two left; that is no more 
than right.' 

" She took the paper, and reverently placing 
her hand upon his head, said: 

" ^ The Lord bless you, Mr. Lincoln ! May 
you live a thousand years, and may you always 
be the head of this great nation.' " 



CHAPTEK XY 

"It was the baby did it"— The President ejects an insolent 
officer — He reinstates a Union officer — A young officer 
compels Lincoln to obey orders — He repeats poetry for 
Mr. Carpenter — He replies angrily to Joseph Medill. 

The President was always very fond of little 
children. In Springfield lie had one or two of 
his little boys with him nearly always. And 
when his favorite son Willie died, in February, 
1862, the loss nearly drove Lincoln insane. 
He suffered so intensely and his grief was so 
great that his friends became anxious for his 
health. 

His love for little children, and kind consid- 
eration for the poor in distress, is w^ell illustrated 
by the following anecdote, which was related by 
" old Daniel," the private servant of President 
Lincoln : 

A poor woman from Philadelphia had been 
waiting three days with a baby in her arms to see 
the President. It appeared from her story that 
her husband had sent a substitute to the army, 
but afterward, when intoxicated, was induced to 

167 



168 LINCOLN IN STORY 

enlist. Upon reacliing the post assigned to his 
regiment he deserted, thinking the Government 
was not entitled to his services. Returning home, 
he was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to 
be shot. 

Said Daniel, in relating it:* "She had been 
waiting three days and there wasn't a chance for 
her to get in. 

" Late in the afternoon of the third day the 
President was going through a passage to his pri- 
vate room to get a cup of tea. On the way he 
heard a baby cry; he instantly went back to his 
office and rang the bell. 

" ' Daniel,' said he, ^ is there a woman with a 
babe in the anteroom?' 

" I said : ' Yes, sir, and if you Avill allow me 
to say it, it is a case you ought to see, for it is a 
matter of life and death.' 

" Lincoln said: ^ Send her to me at once.' 

" She went in, told her story, and the Presi- 
dent pardoned her husband. 

" As the woman came out from his presence 
her eyes were lifted in prayer, and tears were 
streaming down her cheeks. I went up to her, 
and, pulling her shawl, said: ^ Madam, it was the 
baby that did it.' " 



* Selected from Carpenter's Recollections, and published by 
permission of The Independent. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 1G9 

The President ejects an Insolent Officer 

Tliat Mr. Lincoln could be firm in the cause 
of justice, as well as lenient in the cause of mercy, 
is shown by the following incident which occurred 
at the White House in 1864: 

Among the callers one day there appeared an 
officer who had been cashiered from the service. 

He had prepared an elaborate defense of him- 
self, and he consumed much time in reading it 
to the President. 

When he had finished, Mr. Lincoln replied 
that even upon his own statement of the case the 
facts did not warrant his (the President's) interfer- 
ence. Greatly disappointed and crestfallen, the 
officer withdrew. A few days afterward he came 
again and went over practically the same ground 
without accomplishing his purpose. 

The third time he forced his way into Mr. 
Lincoln's presence, who, Avitli great forbearance, 
again listened to the repetition of his arguments, 
but made no reply. 

The man evidently seeing in Mr. Lincoln's 
face no sympathy for him, turned abruptly and 
said: 

" Well, Mr. President, I see you are fully de- 
termined not to do me justice." 

This was too much even for Mr. Lincoln, who, 
without showing any feeling, quietly arose, and 



170 LINCOLN IN STOHY 

laying some papers upon the desk, suddenly seized 
the man by his coat-collar and marched him to 
the door, saying, as he ejected him into the hall, 
" Sir, I give you fair warning never to show 
yourself in this room again. I can bear censure 
but not insult/' 

In a whining tone the man begged for his 
papers which he had dropped. 

" Begone, sir,'' said the President. ^^ Your 
papers will be sent to you. I never wish to see 
your face again." 

A Union Officer Reinstated by the President 

The high sense of justice, as well as the 
political sagacity of Lincoln, is well illustrated 
by the following story told by Mr. E. W. An- 
drews: 

" I was still on duty in the defenses of Balti- 
more when the presidential campaign of 1864 oc- 
curred. I had been a lifelong Democrat and I 
favored the election of McClellan, the candidate 
of my party. One evening in September, 1864, 
I was invited by a few friends to go with them 
to a Democratic meeting. I agreed to go for a 
few minutes only. 

" To my surprise and annoyance, I was called 
on by the audience for a speech. Being obliged 
to say something, I contented myself with a short 
expression of my regard for McClellan and stated 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 171 

my intention to vote for liim. I made no refer- 
ence to Mr. Lincoln and soon left the hall. 

" The next day an order came from Secretary 
Stanton, directing me to be mustered out of service. 
^o reason was given, no opportunity for defense. 

" As I was and always had been a Union man, 
as I had a brother and three sons in the Union 
Army, and as I learned that my speech at the 
meeting, when reported to Stanton, had made him 
very angry and caused him to utter severe threats 
against me, I determined to go to Washington to 
find out the reason of his attempt to disgrace me. 

^' As no other pretext could be given for the 
Secretary's action, I resolved to appeal to the 
President. 

" I gave my statement of the facts to a mem- 
ber of Congress with the request that he would 
ask Mr. Lincoln whether the dismissal was by his 
order, knowledge, or consent. 

" He did so. The President immediately re- 
plied: ^I know nothing about it; of course Stan- 
ton does a thousand things in his official character 
which I can know nothing about, and which it is 
not necessary that I should know anything about.' 

" Having heard the case, he added : 

" ^ Well, that's no reason. Andrews has as 
good a right to hold on to his Democracy if he 
chooses, as Stanton has to throw his overboard. 

" ^ If I should muster out all my generals who 



172 LINCOLN IN STORY 

avow themselves Democrats, there would be a sad 
thinning out of the commissioned officers of the 
army. 'No ! ' he continued, ^ when the military 
duties of a soldier are fully and faithfully per- 
formed, he can manage his politics his own way. 
We have no more to do with that than with his 
religion.' 

" ^ Tell this officer he can return to his post, 
and if there is no other or better reason for his 
dismissal by Stanton, it shall do him no harm; the 
commission he holds will remain good as new. 
Supporting General McClellan is no violation of 
army regulations; and as a question of taste, choos- 
ing between him and me — ^well, I'm the longest, 
but McClellan is better-looking.' " 

Thus, with a jest, Lincoln disposed of a case 
which Stanton, in his ill-temper, would have made 
a great fuss about, and which would, without 
doubt, have caused Lincoln's own defeat at the 
election if he had supported him in it. 

By insisting that every soldier should be 
given perfect liberty to vote as he wished, the 
President made many friends and won the admira- 
tion even of his enemies. 

At the Battle of Fort Stevens President Lincoln 
Obeys the Orders of the Officer of the Day 

Wlien the Confederate Army, under General 
Early, tried to capture the Capitol, July 11, 1864, 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 173 



the President and many of his Cabinet went out 
to witness the battle. 

Mr. Chittenden, the Registrar of the Treas- 
ury, relates the incident as follows: * 

^' Leaving the ditch, my pass carried me to 
the fort, where, to my surprise, I found the Presi- 
dent, Secretary Stanton, and other civilians. 

'^ A young colonel of 
artillery, who was officer 
of the day [commander], 
was in great distress be- 
cause the President 
w^ould expose himself, 
and gave no attention to 
his warnings. 

" The officer said the 
enemy had already recog- 
nized him, he knew, for 
they were concentrating ^^^^ ^. <^^X^ 
their fire on him, and a 

soldier standing near had just been shot through 
the thigh. 

" He asked my advice, for he said, ^ The Presi- 
dent is in great danger.' 

" ' What would you do with me under like cir- 
cumstances?' I asked. 




* From Recollections of President Lincoln and his Admin- 
istration, by L. E. Chittenden. Copyright, 1891, by Harper & 
Bros. 



174 LINCOLN IN STORY 

" ^ I would civilly ask you to take a position 
where you were not exposed/ he answered. 

^' ' And if I refused to obey you? ' I queried 
again. 

^' ' I would send a sergeant and file of men, 
and make you obey/ he replied. 

^' Then treat the President just as you would 
me or any civilian/ I said. 

"^I dare not; he is my superior ofiicer. I 
have taken an oath to obey his orders/ the officer 
exclaimed. 

" ^ He has given you no orders. Follow my ad- 
vice and you will not regret it/ I urged. 

^' ' I will/ he replied. ^ I may as well die 
for one thing as another. If he were shot I 
should hold myself responsible.' He then turned 
to where the President was looking over the 
parapet. 

^^ ' Mr. President/ he said, ^ you are standing 
within range of five hundred rebel rifles. Please 
come down to a safer place. If you do not it 
will be my duty to call a file of men and make 
you.' 

" ^ And you would do quite right, my boy,' 
said the President, coming down at once; ^ you 
are in command of this fort, and I should be the 
last man to set an example of disobedience.' " 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 175 

Sitting for his Portrait — The President repeats Pas- 
sages from Shakespeare and other Poets — ''Why 
. should the Spirit of Mortal he Proud % " 

That Lincoln was one of the best educated 
and most refined men who ever occupied the presi- 
dential office is proved beyond a doubt as we be- 
come better acquainted with his remarkable life. 
This is the more to be wondered at because he 
had practically no schooling, and never even saw 
the inside of a college until after he had become 
a distinguished lawyer. 

But he thirsted after knowledge. He never 
ceased to be a student; and even while President, 
with all the terrible burdens of war resting 
upon him, he was a frequent visitor to the Smith- 
sonian Institution, where Mr. Joseph Henry, the 
superintendent, found him one of his most appre- 
ciative and interesting callers. 

Mr. B. F. Carpenter, the artist, who painted 
the great historic picture, Signing the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation, during the year 1864, was, 
for six months, daily at the White House. Among 
the many interesting incidents which came under 
his observation nothing was more characteristic 
than the President's great fondness for poetry. 
At one sitting, Lincoln repeated from memory 
the king's soliloquy from Hamlet, commencing 
with the line, " Oh, my offense is rank, it smells to 
heaven." 



1Y6 LINCOLN IN STORY 

He then quoted from the play of Richard III 
the soliloquy and other lines, showing himself fa- 
miliar with these and other works of the " bard 
of Avon." At this sitting, at the request of Mr. 
Carpenter, he repeated one of his most favorite 
poems, which through Lincoln's fondness for it 
has become famous. It is given herewith for its 
lofty sentiment, its general tone of sadness, no 
less than the beauty of its thought; the simple 
directness of its expression illustrates in an ad- 
mirable manner the character of the great martyr 
President. 

OH! WHY SHOULD THE SPIRIT OF MORTAL BE 
PROUD? 

BY WILLIAM KNOX 

Oh ! why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? 
Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud, 
A flash of the liglitning, a break of the wave, 
He passeth from life to his rest in the grave. 

The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, 
Be scattered around, and together be laid ; 
And the young and the old, and the low and the high, 
Shall molder to dust, and together shall lie. 

The infant a mother attended and loved ; 
The mother that infant's afl'ection who proved ; 
The husband, that mother and infant who blest — 
Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest. 

The hand of the king that the scepter hath borne. 
The brow of the priest that the miter has worn. 
The eye of the sage, and the heart of the brave. 
Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave. 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 177 

The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap, 
The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep, 
The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread. 
Have faded away like the grass that we tread. 

So the multitude goes — like the flower or the weed 
That withers away to let others succeed ; 
So the multitude comes — even those we behold, 
To repeat every tale that has often been told. 

For we are the same our fathers have been ; 
We see the same sights our fathers have seen ; 
We drink the same stream, we view the same sun, 
And run the same course our fathers have run. 

The thoughts we are thinking, our fathers would think ; 
From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink; 
To the life we are clinging, they also would cling ; 
But it speeds from us all like a bird on the wing. 

They loved — but the story we can not unfold ; 
They scorned — but the heart of the haughty is cold ; 
They grieved — but no wail from their slumber will come; 
They joyed — but the tongue of their gladness is dumb. 

Yea ! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain, 
Are mingled together in sunshine and rain ; 
And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge, 
Still follow each other, like surge upon surge. 

'Tis a wink of an eye — 'tis the draught of a breath — 
From the blossom of health to the paleness of death. 
From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud — 
Oh ! why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? 

Upon another occasion an actor wlio, like 
many others, thought the President merely a vul- 
gar ignoramus, upon being introduced to Lincoln, 
was astonished at his great knowledge of Shake- 
12 



178 LINCOLN IN STOEY 

speare's plays, and at Ms ready and just criticism 
of Mr. Hackett, the Talstaff of his time, of whom 
the President said: ^^ Hackett's lack of informa- 
tion regarding Shakespeare's plays caused me to 
doubt that he had ever read the text." The actor 
found the President a better Shakespearean 
scholar than himself, and afterward thanked his 
friend for permitting him to know the President as 
a gentleman and a scholar. 

Lincohi's Angry Meply to Joseph Medill arid his 
Chicago Friends 

During the last years of the great war the 
tremendous strain and worry had commenced to 
undermine the health of the President. He 
passed many sleepless nights and suffered terribly, 
especially during the awful battles which caused 
so much loss of life and misery. He became at 
times almost ill-tempered, irritable we should say, 
because of the fearful mental strain and nervous 
exhaustion consequent upon his great respon- 
sibilities. 

To a lady whose son's life he had saved, and 
who in gratitude exclaimed, " May Heaven bring 
you reward and peace ! " he said, with bowed head, 
as though his burden was too great to bear : " I 
shall never know peace again." 

Of this period of worry and Weariness the fol- 
lowing anecdote, related by Miss Ida M. Tarbell, 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 179 

in her most interesting articles in McClure's Maga- 
zine, exhibits the Martyr President in a different 
but none the less human and interesting aspect.* 

She writes: 

" The late Joseph Medill, the editor of the 
Chicago Tribune, once told me how he and cer- 
tain leading citizens of Chicago went to Lincoln 
to ask that the quota of Cook County be reduced. 

'' ' In 1864, when the call for extra troops 
came, Chicago revolted,' said Mr. Medill. ' She 
had already sent twenty-two thousand men up to 
that time, and was drained. When the new call 
came, there were no young men to go — no aliens 
except what were bought. The citizens held a 
mass meeting, and appointed three persons, of 
whom I was one, to go to Washington and ask 
Stanton to give Cook County a new enrolment. 
I begged off; but the committee insisted, so I 
went. On reaching Washington, we went to Stan- 
ton with our statement. He refused entirely to 
give us the desired aid. Then we went to Lin- 
coln. " I can not do it," he said, " but I Avill go 
with you to Stanton and hear the arguments of 
both sides.'' So we all went over to the War De- 
partment together. Stanton and General Fry 
were there, and they, of course, contended that 



* From Miss Tarbell's Life of Lincoln, by permission of 
McClure, Phillips & Co., publishers. 



180 LINCOLN IN STORY 

the quota should not be changed. The argument 
went on for some time, and finally was referred 
to Lincoln, who had been sitting silently listen- 
ing. I shall never forget how he suddenly lifted 
his head and turned on us a black and frowning 
face. 

" ' " Gentlemen," he said, in a voice full of bit- 
terness, " after Boston, Chicago has been the chief 
instrument in bringing this war on the country. 
The ^^Torthwest has opposed the South as New 
England has opposed the South. It was you who 
are largely responsible for making blood flow as 
it has. You called for war until we had it. You 
called for emancipation, and I have given it to 
you. Whatever you have asked you have had. 
I^ow you come here begging to be let off from 
the call for men which I have made to carry out 
the war you have demanded. You ought to be 
ashamed of yourselves. I have a right to expect 
better things of you. Go home and raise your 
six thousand extra men. And you, Medill, you 
are acting like a coward. You and your Tribune 
have had more influence than any paper in the 
I^orthwest in making this war. You can influ- 
ence great masses, and yet you cry to be spared 
at a moment when your cause is suffering. Go 
home and send us those men." 

" ' I couldn't say anything. It was the first 
time I ever was whipped, and I didn't have an 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT ISl 

answer. AVe all got up and went out, and when 
the door closed, one of my colleagues said: ^' Well, 
gentlemen, the old man is right. "We ought to be 
ashamed of ourselves. Let us never say anything 
about this, but go home and raise the men." And 
we did — six thousand men — making twenty-eight 
thousand in the war from a city of one hundred 
and fifty-six thousand. But there might have 
been crape on every door almost in Chicago, for 
every family had lost a son or a husband. I lost 
two brothers. It was hard for the mothers.' " 



CHAPTER XVI 

SHORT STORIES, IDEAS, AND QUOTATIONS 

Lincoln's own estimate of his mental powers — Sentence of Cal- 
houn's speech — General Grant's whisky — His reply to a 
titled applicant — Canvased hams — The jack-knife story 
— Brigadiers and horses — Size of the Confederate Army— 
" There's one of my children isn't dead yet ! " — The strict 
judge — " On the Lord's side " — The henpecked husband — 
" How many legs will a sheep have ? " — The three pig- 
eons on a fence — " Not rebels, but Confederates." 

Mr. Speed, Lincoln's old Springfield friend, 
says: "He read law, history, philosophy, and 
poetry — Burns, Byron, Milton, or Shakespeare — 
and the newspapers, retaining them all about as 
well as an ordinary man would any one of them 
who made any one of them a study. I once re- 
marked to him that his mind was a wonder to me; 
that impressions were easily made upon it and 
never effaced. 

" ^ No,' said he, ^ you are mistaken. I am 

slow to learn and slow to forget that which I 

have learned. My mind is like a piece of steel 

— very hard to scratch anything on it, and almost 

182 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 183 

impossible after you get it there to rub it 
out.' '' 

Mr. Speed added : " The beauty of his char- 
acter was its entire simplicity. He had no affecta- 
tion in anything.'' 

Lincoln greatly admired a sentence from Cal- 
houn's speech replying to Mr. Clay, -in the Sen- 
ate, in which Mr. Clay had quoted precedent: 
Mr. Calhoun replied that "to legislate upon prece- 
dent is to make the error of yesterday the law of 

to-day." 

General Grant's Whisky 

Just after the battle of Pittsburg Landing a 
self-constituted committee of prohibitionists took 
it upon themselves to visit the President and urge 
the removal of Grant. The President, greatly 
surprised, inquired for what reason. " Why," 
replied the spokesman, " he drinks too much 
whisky." 

"Ah!" rejoined Lincoln, dropping his lower 
jaw; "by the way, gentlemen, can any one of 
you tell me where General Grant procures his 
peculiar whisky, because if I can find out I will 
send every general in the field a barrel of it! " 

Noble Titles no Obstacle to Advancement 

Lincoln's dry humor is very aptly illustrated 
by the following: During the latter part of the 
war a former lieutenant in a foreign army, whose 



184 LINCOLN IN STORY 

debts had compelled him to leave his native land, 
was admitted to the President and offered his serv- 
ices in the Union Army. Lincoln accepted the 
offer and promised him a commission. 

The young man was so elated at his success 
that he could not resist the desire to exploit his 
title of nobility, and said, in an appropriately 
modest and deprecating manner: "Mr. President, 
in my own country my family is noble, and I bear 
a title of very ancient nobility. I '^ 

Mr. Lincoln here, with a twinkle in his eye, 
interrupted in a friendly and reassuring manner, 
saying: 

" Oh, never mind that; you will find that to 
be no obstacle to your advancement." 

Canvased Hams 

Mr. Lincoln was always ready to laugh at the 
expense of his own person. One evening at the 
White House when dressed for a State dinner, 
conversing with some gentlemen, he held up his 
big, long hands, encased in white kid gloves, re- 
marking with a laugh: "One of my Illinois 
friends could never see my hands in this pre- 
dicament without being reminded of canvased 

hams!" 

The Jack-hnife Story 

He used to tell the following story with 
great glee: 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 185 

^' In the days when I used to be on the cir- 
cuit, I was once accosted in the cars by a stranger, 
who said: 

" ^ Excuse me, sir, but I have an article which 
belongs to you/ 

" ^ How is that? ' I asked, considerably aston- 
ished. 

" The stranger took a jack-knife from his 
pocket. 

" ^ This knife,' said he, ^ was placed in my 
hands some years ago, and with the injunction 
that I was to keep it until I found a man uglier- 
looking than myself. I have carried it from that 
time to this; allow me now to say, sir, that I think 
you are fairly entitled to the property.' " 

Brigadiers and Horses 

Of a juvenile brigadier-general who, with his 
horse, had been captured by the Confederates, Lin- 
coln said to a friend who brought him the news: 

" I am sorry to lose the horse." 

^^ What do you mean?" inquired his friend. 

" Why, I mean," replied Lincoln, " that I can 
make a better brigadier-general any day; but 
those horses cost the Grovernment one hundred 
and twenty-five dollars a head." 

The Size of the Confederate Army 
Toward the latter part of the war a gentleman 
asked the President how large the Confederate 



186 LINCOLN IN STORY 

Army was, and to his great astonishment he re- 
plied: " The Confederates have 1,200,000 men in 
the field.'' 

"Is it possible?'' inquired the man. "And 
how did you find out? " 

" Why," said Lincoln, " every general in the 
Union Army whenever he gets licked says the 
rebels outnumbered him three or four to one; 
now we have at this time about 400,000 men, 
and three times that number would be 1,200,000, 
wouldn't it?" 

" There's One of my Children isnH Dead yet ! " 

During the darkest days of the war a telegram 
was received by Lincoln from Cumberland Gap, 
stating " that firing was heard in the direction of 
Knoxville." 

" I'm glad of it! " exclaimed the President. 

Some one present, who had the perils of Burn- 
side's position uppermost in his mind, asked: 

" Why are you glad of it, Mr. Presi- 
dent?" 

" Why, you see," answered Lincoln, " it re- 
minds me of Mrs. Sallie Ward, a neighbor of 
mine, who had a large family; occasionally one 
of her numerous progeny would be heard crying 
in some out-of-the-way place, upon which Mrs. 
Ward would exclaim: ^ Thank the Lord, there's 
one of my children isn't dead yet! ' " 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 187 

The Strict Judge 

In conversation with a member of his Cabinet, 

Lincoln said he knew a judge who once said he 

would hang a man for blowing his nose in the 

street, but that he would quash the indictment if 

it failed to specify which hand w^as used in the 

operation. 

" On the Lord's Side " 

A clergyman, at one of Lincoln's receptions, 
closed his remarks by saying he ^' hoped the Lord 
was on our side." 

'^ I am not at all concerned about that,'' re- 
plied Lincoln, " for I know the Lord is always on 
the side of the right. But it is my constant anx- 
iety and prayer that I and this nation should be 
on the Lord's side." 

The Henpecked Husband 

"When General Phelps took possession of Ship 
Island, near New Orleans, early in the war, he 
issued a proclamation, somewdiat bombastic in 
tone, freeing the slaves. To the surprise of many 
persons the President took no official notice of it. 
Some time passed, when one day a friend took 
him to task for his apparent indifference to so im- 
portant a matter. 

"Well," said Lincoln, "I feel about that a 
good deal as a man who I will call Jones, whom 
I once knew, did about his wife. He was one of 



188 LINCOLN IN STORY 

those meek men, and had the reputation of being 
henpecked. At last one day his wife was seen 
switching him out of the house. A day or two 
afterward a friend met him on the street, and 
said: 

" ^ Jones, Vye always stood up for you, as you 
know, but I am not going to do it any longer. 
Any man who will stand quietly and take a switch- 
ing from his wife deserves to be horsewhipped.' 

" Jones looked up with a wink, patting his 
friend on the back. 

" ' 'Now, don't,' said he. ' Why, it didn't hurt 
me any, and you've no idea what a power of good 
it did Sarah Ann!'" 

" How many Legs will a Sheep have f " 

About the time the question of emancipation 
was being agitated, and previous to the time when 
the President considered it wise or practicable, a 
deputation one day waited upon him urging that 
he should issue a proclamation at once declaring 
freedom to all the slaves in the States then fighting 
against the Union. 

In reply, Mr. Lincoln said: 

" If I issue a proclamation now, as you sug- 
gest, it will be as ineffectual as was the Pope's 
celebrated bull against the moon. It can not be 
enforced. 

" E'ow, by way of illustration," he added, 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 1S9 

^' how many legs will a sheep have if you call his 
tail a legT' 

They answered ^' Five." 

" You are mistaken/' replied Lincoln, '' for 
calling a tail a leg does not make it so." 

With this simple illustration he showed' them 
the fallacy of their position better than any 
learned syllogism w^ould have done. 

Three Pigeons on a Fence 

Upon another occasion, when Lincoln wished to 
impress upon a delegation the need of great pa- 
tience and care, lest by hasty action some of the 
border slave-States, like Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
Missouri, might be influenced to join the seces- 
sion movement, he said: 

" If there be three pigeons on a fence and 
you fire and kill one, how many will there be 
left?" 

They replied '' Two." 

^' Oh, no," said he, " there would be none left; 
for the other two, frightened by the shot, would 
have flown away." 

Not Rebels, hid Confederates 

Dr. Jerome Walker, of Brooklyn, relates that 

just one week before the President's assassination 

he escorted him through the various hospitals in 

"Washington. After visiting the wounded Union 



190 LINCOLN IN STORY 

soldiers, tliej came to those wards where the sick 
and wounded Southern prisoners were, and he 
said: 

" Mr. President, you won't want to go in 
there; they are only rebels.'' 

Lincoln stopped, and, laying his hands upon 
Dr. Walker's shoulders, said: 

" You mean Confederates.^^ 

He thereupon went through all the Confed- 
erate wards, paying as much attention and speak- 
ing as kindly to them as he had to the Federal 
soldiers. 



CHAPTEK XYII 

The President relieves the fears of the Secretary of War by an 
illustration — " By Jingo ! Butler or no Butler, here goes " 
— He tells General Grant some stories — Gives freedom to 
many imprisoned for resisting the draft — The Gettysburg 
address. 

The Complaining Governor and the Squealing Boy 

One of the [N^orthern governors who was a 
very earnest and able supporter of the Union 
cause, and who was untiring in raising troops and 
keeping up the war spirit, was fond of having his 
own way, and did not like to conform to the gen- 
eral military system which had become necessary 
to the army. 

On one occasion he complained more bitterly 
than usual, and in a long letter warned the au- 
thorities at Washington ^^ that the execution of 
the Government military orders in his State would 
be beset with difficulties and dangers." 

The tone of the despatches gave rise to fear 
that the Governor might not fully cooperate in the 
important military movements then under way, 
and Stanton, the Secretary of War, being greatly 
troubled, laid them before the President for ad- 
vice and instruction. 

191 



192 LINCOLN IN STORY 

Lincoln, when lie read tliem, was not disturbed 
in tlie least. In fact they rather amused him. 

After having read all the papers, he said, in a 
cheerful tone: '' ]Rever mind, never mind; those 
despatches don't mean anything. Just go right 
ahead." 

" The Governor is like a boy I saw once at 
a launching. When everything was ready, they 
picked out a small boy and sent him under the 
ship to knock away the trigger, and let her go. 
At the critical moment everything depended on 
the boy. He had to do the job well by a direct 
and vigorous blow, and then lie down flat and 
keep still, while the ship slid over him. 

" The boy did everything right, but yelled as 
if he was being murdered from the time he got 
under the keel until he got out. I thought the 
hid« was all scraped off his back; but he wasn't 
hurt at all. 

" The master of the shipyard told me that this 
boy was always chosen for that job, that he did 
his work well, that he never had been hurt, but 
that he always squealed in that way. E'ow, that's 

the way with Governor ; make up your mind 

that he is not hurt, and that he is doing the work 
all right, and pay no attention to his squealing. 
He only wants to make you understand how hard 
his task is, and that he is on hand performing it." 

The same Governor's loyalty and zeal in the 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 193 

Union cause, as time went on, proved exactly as 
the President had predicted, and the Secretary's 
fears were thus proved to be unnecessary. 

" By Jingo ! Butler or no Butler^ here goes " 

One morning a Congressman went up to the 
White House on business, and saw in the ante- 
room an old man crouched all alone in a corner, 
crying as if his heart would break. 

This w^as so common an occurrence that he 
paid no attention to it; but on going again the 
next day on business, he saw the same man crying, 
and stopped, saying to him, " What's the matter 
with you, my man? " 

The man, in answer, told him the story of his 
son who had been convicted by a court-martial in 
Butler's army and sentenced to be shot the next 
week. 

He said also : ^^ Our Congressman is so con- 
vinced of his guilt that he will not help or in- 
terfere." 

" Well," said Mr. A , '' I will take you into 

the President's office after I get through, and you 
can tell Mr. Lincoln all about it." 

Wlien Mr. A entered and introduced this 

man, Mr. Lincoln said : " Well, my old friend, 
what can I do for you? " 

The man then repeated the story he had told 

to Mr. A . 

13 



194 LINCOLN IN STORY 

While lie was speaking the President's face 
became sad and serious as he replied: 

^' I am sorry to say I can do nothing for you. 
Listen to this telegram received from General 
Butler yesterday.'' 

The President then read the following: 

^^ Mr. President : I pray you not to interfere 
with the court-martial of this army. You will 
destroy all discipline among the soldiers. 

'' [Signed.] B. F. Butler." 

As the President read these words, they 
seemed like a death-knell to the poor boy, and 
the old man's anguish and despair mastered him 
so completely that he burst into sobs which shook 
his whole body. His grief affected Lincoln very 
deeply, and after a minute's struggle with him- 
self, he exclaimed: 

" By Jingo! Butler or no Butler, here goes." 

He took the pen, and writing a few words, 
handed them to the man. 

Mr. Lincoln's exclamation led the applicant to 
think he had written an order for his son's release, 
so, when he read the President's order as follows: 

" Job Smith is not to be shot until further 
orders from me. Abraham Lincoln." 

he said : ^* Why, Mr. President, I thought it 
was to be a pardon; but you say, ^ ]!^ot to be shot 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 195 

till further orders/ and you may order him to be 
shot next week! '' 

Lincoln smiled at the man's fears, and re- 
plied : 

" Well, my old friend, I see you are not very 
well acquainted with me. If your son never looks 
on death till further orders from me to shoot 
him, he will live to be a great deal older than 
Methuselah.'' 

The man now understood the President's 
kindly intention to pardon his son, as soon as he 
could vv'ithout offending the general, and went 
away hapi)y and grateful. 

Lincoln tells General Grant a Funny Story 

A short time before the final surrender of the 
Confederates, General Grant told the President 
that the war must soon come to an end, and asked 
him whether he should try to capture Jefferson 
Davis, the Confederate President, or let him 
escape from the country. 

Lincoln said : " That reminds me of a story. 

" There was once an Irishman who had signed 
the Father Mathews temperance pledge. A few 
days after, he became terribly thirsty, and finally 
applied to a bartender in a saloon for a glass of 
lemonade, and while it was being mixed he leaned 
over and whispered to him, ^ And couldn't ye put 
a little brandy in it, all unbeknownst to meself ? ' " 



196 LINCOLN IN STORY 

He then said : " Let Davis escape all unbe- 
known to yourself if you can." 

Lincoln gives Freedom to the Men in Pennsylvania 
Imprisoned for resisting the Draft 

Mr. Joshua R. Speed, the tried and true friend 
of Mr. Lincoln, while residing in Springfield, 111., 
gives the following account of his last interview 
with the President, which occurred in Washington 
about ten days prior to his second inaugura- 
tion: ^ 

^^ Congress was drawing to a close; the Presi- 
dent had to give much attention to bills he was 
about to sign. The great war was at its height; 
visitors from all parts of the country were com- 
ing and going to the President, with their com- 
plaints and grievances, from morning until night, 
with almost as much regularity as the ebb and 
flow of the tide, and he was worn down in health 
and spirit. 

" On this day, when I entered the room, I 
noticed, sitting near the fireplace, dressed in hum- 
ble attire, two ladies modestly waiting their turn. 
One after another the visitors came and went, some 
satisfied, others displeased, at the result of their 
mission. The hour had arrived to close the door 
against all further callers. 

" E'o one was left in the room except the 
President, the two ladies, and myself. With a 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT I97 

rather peevish and fretful air he turned to them 
and said : ^ Well, ladies, what can I do for you ? ' 

" They both commenced speaking at once. 

" From what they said, he soon learned that 
one was the wife and the other was the mother 
of men who had resisted the draft in western 
Pennsylvania. 

" ^ Stop,' said he, ' don't say any more. Give 
me your petition.' 

" The old lady responded : ^ Mr. Lincoln, we've 
got no petition, we couldn't w^rite one, and had 
no money to pay for writing it, and I thought 
best to come to see you.' 

^^ ^ Oh! ' said he, ' I understand your cases.' 

'' He rang his bell and ordered one of the mes- 
sengers to tell General Dana to bring him the 
names of all the men in prison for resisting the 
draft in western Pennsylvania. 

" The general soon came with the list. 

" Lincoln then inquired if there was any differ- 
ence in the charges or degrees of guilt. 

" The general replied that he knew of none. 

" ^ Well, then,' said the President, ^ these fel- 
lows have suffered long enough, and I have 
thought so for some time, and now that my mind 
is on the subject, I believe I will turn out the 
whole flock. So draw up the order, general, and 
I Avill sign it.' 

^^ It was done, and the general left the room. 



198 LINCOLN IN STORY 

^^ Turning to tlie women, Lincoln said: ' Now, 
ladies, you can go.' 

'' The younger of the two ran forward and 
was in the act of kneeling in thankfulness. 

" ^ Get up,' he said, ' don't kneel to me, but 
thank God and go.' 

" The old lady now came forward with tears 
in her eyes to express her gratitude. ' Good-by, 
Mr. Lincoln,' said she. ^ I shall probably never 
see you again till we meet in heaven.' 

" These were her exact words. She had the 
President's hand in hers, and he was deeply 
moved. 

" He instantly took her right hand in both of 
his own, and, following her to the door, said: ^I 
am afraid, with all my troubles, I shall never 
get to the resting-place you speak of, but if I do, 
I am sure I shall find you. That you wish me to 
get there is, I believe, the best wish you could 
make for me. Good-by.' 

"We were now alone. I said to him: ^Lin- 
coln, with my knowledge of your nervous sensi- 
bility, it is a wonder that such scenes as this don't 
kill you.' 

" He thought for a moment, and then answered 
in a languid voice : ^ Yes, you are to a certain 
degree right. I ought not to undergo what I so 
often do. I am very unwell now; my feet and 
hands of late seem to be always cold, and I ought, 



SEVENTH PERIOD: THE PRESIDENT 199 

perhaps, to be in bed. But things of this sort 
you have just seen don't hurt me, for, to tell you 
the truth, that scene is the only thing to-day that 
has made me forget my condition, or given me 
any pleasure. I have in that order made two peo- 
ple happy and alleviated the distress of many a 
poor soul whom I never expect to see. That old 
lady,' he continued, ^ was no counterfeit. The 
mother spoke out in all the features of her face. 
It is more than one can often say, that in doing 
right one has made tw^o people happy in one day. 
" ' Speed, die when I may, / want it said of me 
hy those who know me best, that I always plucked 
a thistle and planted a flower when I thought a 
flower would grow.^ " 

Lincoln^s Address at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863 

'' Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers 
brought forth upon this continent a new nation, 
conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the propo- 
sition that all men are created equal. 

" E'ow we are engaged in a great civil war test- 
ing whether that nation, or any nation, so con- 
ceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are 
met on a great battlefield of that war. We have 
come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final 
resting-place for those who here gave their lives 
that that nation might live. It is altogether fit- 
ting and proper that we should do this. 



200 LINCOLN IN STORY 

" But in a larger sense we can not dedicate — 
we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this 
ground. The brave men, living and dead, who 
struggled here, have consecrated it far above our 
power to add or detract. 

^^ The world will little note, nor long remem- 
ber, what we say here, but it can never forget what 
they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be 
dedicated here to the unfinished work which they 
who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. 
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great 
task remaining before us — that from these honored 
dead we take increased devotion to that cause 
for which they gave the last full measure of de- 
votion — that we here highly resolve that these dead 
shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under 
Gody shall have a new birth of freedom — and that 
government of the people, by the people, for the 
people shall not perish from the earth.'^ 



LINCOLN'S TRIUMPH 

(1865) 



CHAPTER XYIII 

His second inauguration — The President at Petersburg is mis- 
taken for a rebel— The Confederate Government destroyed 
— Lincoln enters Richmond amid demonstrations of great 
joy from emancipated slaves — General Pickett's wife and 
the President — Lincoln's last official act was to save a life 
— His assassination — His Code of War adopted at the 
Peace Conference at The Hague. 

On March 4, 1865, Lincoln was inaugurated 
the second time. In his address the following 
paragraph occurred : 

"With malice toward none; with charity for 
all: with firmness in the right as God gives us to 
see the right, let us strive to finish the work we 
are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care 
for him who shall have borne the battle, and for 
his widow and his orphan; to do all which may 
achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among 
ourselves, and with all nations." 

The lofty and sublime thought here expressed 
exercised a powerful and healing influence upon 
the minds of the people, which survived even the 

201 



202 LINCOLN IN STORV 

terrible shock of the President's assassination 
which followed so soon afterward. 

Lincoln impersonates a Virginian Tobacco Owner 
and is called a Rebel by a Union Officer 

Dr. J. E. Burriss, of New York, who was serv- 
ing as a soldier in the Union Army and was a par- 
ticipant in the taking of Petersburg, related to the 
writer the following incident which illustrates the 
great President's appreciation of the humorous 
and his willingness to take or make a joke: 

" When the advance of the Union Army en- 
tered Petersburg, guards were at once placed 
about the public buildings and tobacco ware- 
houses. We boys, many of us, wanted tobacco, 
and when we came upon a large warehouse, near 
which we halted, a grand rush for the place was 
made. But there we met the guards with ' strict 
orders ' not to permit any foraging. 

" There was a general protest, some saying, 

" ^ We deserve all we can take, after fighting 
and marching so many days.' 

" Finally, grumbling groups of soldiers formed 
and talked the matter over with considerable re- 
sentment at the commanding general for his pro- 
tection of the enemy's property. ^ To the victors 
belong the spoils ' was the general cry. 

" While we were thus considering ^ ways and 
means ' of getting at their tobacco, and cursing 



LINCOLN'S TRIUMPH 203 

the commanding general, one of us spied an 
elderly man standing some distance off. He wore 
a slouch hat, and his brown, sunburned face and 
general appearance suggested to the soldier that he 
Avas a Southerner. Suddenly a soldier exclaimed: 
^ Let's go over and see that old fellar. Perhaps he 
owns the warehouse ! ' 

'' So a delegation approached the ' old Vir- 
ginian,' as they supposed, and the spokesman ac- 
costed him thus: 

" ^ Say, do you own that tobacco warehouse ? ' 

" The ^ old fellar,' with a smile and twinkle in 
his eyes, remembered long afterward, said slowly 
and with a sort of drawl: 

^' ^ AYell, perhaps I do, boys. Why do you 
want to know? ' 

'' * Well, you see, we've been a-fighting and 
marching, and we're hungry for some tobacco, 
and the blamed guard won't let us have a single 
chew.' 

" ' That does appear to be rather rough, I 
reckon. It's a shame,' answered the old fellar, 
sympathetically. 

" Thus encouraged, several flocked around him 
and asked if he would give us some. 

" The old ^ Southerner ' quietly walked over 
to the entrance and asked the guard : ^ May I see 
the officer in command, please?' 

" Upon this a young lieutenant with a bril- 



204 LINCOLN IN STORY 

liant new uniform pompously strode forward. To 
the request of the ^ farmer ' the young officer 
brusquely answered: 

" ' Who are you? Do you own this ware- 
house ? ' 

" With a sudden look of surprise and pain at 
the officer's manner, the ^ Southerner ' said : 

" ^ Will you please call your superior officer? ' 

" ^ ]^ot for any rebel son of a \ re- 
plied the lieutenant, almost bursting with his own 
importance. 

" At this, the ^ rebel ' took out a notebook, and 
writing hastily, asked if there was an orderly with 
a horse to be had; and one of the men,^ all of 
whom were ashamed of the lieutenant, came for- 
ward and volunteered to deliver the note, which 
was addressed to General U. S. Grant. 

^' In a few minutes General Grant, covered 
with dust, came galloping up in great haste. He 
sprang from his horse and, grasping the hand of 
the ^ old rebel,' exclaimed: 

" ^ Mr. President, how can I serve you? ' 

" The lieutenant now became pale, and trem- 
bled with fear, while the soldiers sent up a shout; 
as the news spread, cheering could be heard 
among the crowds in the distance. Approach- 
ing the President, the abashed young officer 
stammered an apology, expecting instant dis- 
missal. 



LINCOLN'S TRIUMPH 205 

" Lincoln, with some severity, said to him : 
' Yonng man, don't always judge by appearances. 
And treat your elders with more respect in the 
future/ The boys were then given a sufficient 
quantity of tobacco to satisfy their desires for 
some time." 

Lincoln enters Richmond amid the Wildest Enthu- 
siasm of the Colored People 

A few weeks after the inauguration. General 
Grant's stubborn campaign against the Confed- 
erate Army around Richmond culminated in the 
great battle of Five Forks, Va., and on April 2d 
Richmond, the Capital of the Confederacy, was 
burned and evacuated by the Confederate Army. 

On April 9th General Lee surrendered the 
last of the Confederate armies at Appomattox. 

Mr. Lincoln, with members of his Cabinet and 
some friends, on the 10th of April visited Rich- 
mond, and walking like a simple citizen through 
the streets, was given an enthusiastic w^elcome by 
the colored people, who had received their free- 
dom from slavery at his hands. 

Such demonstrations of delight, such shouting 
and hurrahs by these colored people, whose mas- 
ters had fled from the city, was indeed a most 
uncommon sight. 

Many rushed forward to shake his hand, some 
to kneel at his feet, while others, with tears stream- 



206 LINCOLN IN STORY 

ing from their eyes, shouted, ^' Glory, Hallelujah! 
the Day of Freedom is come! '' 

Mr. Lincoln's entrance into the enemy's 
ruined Capital was most unique, and unlike any 
other conqueror in the history of the world. 

Without any parade or display, with hut a 
squad of soldiers to accompany him, he quietly 
walked through the streets, filled with a feeling 
of pity and charity for his enemies, joy at the 
thought that the war was over, and gratitude 
that he had been permitted to carry out what he 
considered to be the will of Almighty God, not 
only in restoring the Union, but also in abolish- 
ing slavery. 

There was an utter lack of pomp or cere- 
mony such as on former historical occasions 
have characterized the triumphal entrances of 
great rulers and military heroes. One needs but 
to recall Napoleon Bonaparte's pompous entry 
into Berlin in 1806, and the galling humiliation 
to the Prussians it occasioned; or the more recent 
triumphal and brilliant, though less aggravating, 
appearance of Kaiser Wilhelm and Bismarck with 
the German Army, at the close of the Franco- 
Prussian War, in Paris, to observe the great dif- 
ference. 

But in Lincoln's great soul there was no room 
for feelings of revenge or malice, and while there 
is scarcely a doubt that he was exalted and thrilled 



LINCOLN'S TRIUMPH 207 

with the glory of the triumph of the Union cause, 
he felt keenly for the sorrows and sufferings of 
the Confederates. 

The corresj^ondent of the Xew York Herald 
of April 11, 1865, describing Lincoln's arrival at 
Kichmond, wrote: 

" There was the wildest enthusiasm on the part 
of the inhabitants, white and black; the whole 
population seemed to pour into the street. The 
blacks were exceedingly demonstrative, greeting 
him as a second Messiah; some falling on their 
knees in the street and, with uplifted hands, thank- 
ing God that they had been permitted to see the 
man who had delivered them from bondage.'' 

The Xew York Tribune of the 8tli said: 

" Crowds rushed out for a glimpse of the tall 
figure as he walked into the city attended by a 
few friends and a score or two of soldiers. The 
joy of the negro knew no bounds. It found ex- 
pression in whoops, in contortions, in tears, and 
incessantly in prayerful ejaculations of thanks." 

General Picketfs Wife and Lincoln — Lincoln the 
True Friend of the South 

In the memoirs of General George Edward 
Pickett, Mrs. Pickett relates an interesting inci- 
dent which occurred at Richmond after it had 
fallen into the hands of the Union Army and 
during the President's visit. 



208 



LINCOLN IN STORY 




It appears that Pickett's appointment to a 
cadetsliip at West Point was partly owing to Lin- 
coln's efforts, and Mrs. Pickett quotes several ex- 
tracts from letters written by 
tile kind-hearted friend to the 
young cadet. 

In one of them he writes: 

" E'ow, boy, in your struggle 

for existence, don't you go 

and forget the old maxim that 

^ one drop of honey catches 

more flies than half a gallon 

of gall.' Load your musket 

with this maxim and smoke it 

in your pipe." When the 

President went to Richmond, Mrs. Pickett came to 

him with her little child in her arms. The lady 

thus describes the incident: 

" ^ I am George Pickett's wife,' I said. 
" ^ And I am Abraham Lincoln.' 
"^The President?' 

" ^ E'o, Abraham Lincoln. George's old 
friend.' 

" Then Lincoln took the child and kissed it, 
and said in that deep and sympathetic voice which 
was one of his greatest powers over the hearts 
of men : ^ Tell your father, rascal, that I forgive 
him for the sake of your mother's smile and your 
bright eyes.' " 



LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION 209 

Mrs. Pickett sajs that her husband's reverence 
for President Lincoln was intense. When the 
tragic message of his assassination reached Gen- 
eral Pickett, he cried: 

"My God! my God! The South has lost her 
best friend and protector; the surest, safest hand 
to guide and steer her through the breakers 
ahead.'' 

The Assassination and Death of the President 

On the 14th of April, in accordance with Mr. 
Lincoln's wishes, the Stars and Stripes were again 
raised over Fort Sumter with firing of cannon 
and appropriate ceremonies. It w^as there that 
the war had begun, just four years before, and 
this was to indicate to the world that the war was 
ended. 

The President, happy at the great results 
which he had been able to accomplish for the 
Union and humanity, yielded to his wife's request 
to attend the theatre in the evening. Throughout 
the ^orth there was great rejoicing, and, in every 
large city, processions during the day and fire- 
works at night gave expression to the feelings of 
thankfulness. Everywhere throughout the Union 
Lincoln's name was greeted with loud cheers. 

The President, in the evening of this most 

eventful day, accompanied his family to the 

theatre, arriving a little after nine o'clock; The 
14 



210 



LINCOLN IN STORY 



large audience arose and greeted him with rousing 
cheers. About ten o'clock a man by the name of 
J. Wilkes Booth entered the box where the Presi- 
dent was sitting, and, drawing a pistol, fired at 
him, the ball lodging in his head. The President, 
without a groan or cry of any kind, sank to the 
floor, while the murderer jumped out of the box 
on to the stage, and, running across it, escaped to 
the street, where he sprang upon a horse and fled. 

Lincoln was borne into a 
house near by and died 
at half-past seven the 
next morning. 

After the shooting in 
the theatre the great au- 
dience arose and gave 
one cry of horror. The 
play was stopped, and 
the audience dismissed. 
The news of Lincoln's 
death caused most in- 
tense sorrow, not only 
throughout the Union, 
but all over the world. 
He was mourned by millions in the North as 
though he had been their own father. Strong 
men, hearing of his death, wept like children, 
and the heart of the entire nation seemed 
bursting with grief. In Europe, kings and 




House in which Mr. Lincoln 
died. 



LINCOLN'S LAST OFFICIAL ACT 211 

princes, as well as tlie masses of the people, joined 
in the most tender expressions of sorrow, and it 
seemed that the heart of humanity itself was torn 
with grief, while sobbings were heard throughout 
the civilized world. The gentle and loving cham- 
pion of human rights and liberty, was dead, and 
his soul ascended to heaven amid such a wail of 
sorrow as had never before been heard. The his- 
tory of the world furnishes no such example of 
universal mourning, because Lincoln not only 
loved and suffered for mankind, but he was 
" An honest man, the noblest work of God." 

Lincoln's Last Official Act teas to save a Life 

The last official act of Abraham Lincoln was 
to sign a paper to let a man live who was con- 
demned to die. An hour later Lincoln was him- 
self dying; the man whose life he saved lived 
nearly thirty-five years longer. He w^as George 
E. Yaughn, who died in Maryvillc, ]\Io., in 1899. 

Before the war Yaughn, with his wife and 
children, lived in Canton, Mo. He was a friend 
of Martin E. Green, a brother of United States 
.Senator James S. Green, both strong pro-slavery 
men. At the opening of the war Martin E. Green 
recruited a regiment and received a colonel's 
commission from the Confederate Government. 
George Yaughn enlisted under Green's command 
and fought through the war. 



212 LINCOLN IN STORY 

After a period of fighting, Green and Yanglm 
crossed into Mississippi from Tennessee, camping 
at Tupelo, Miss. 'Not having heard from his 
family, Green was anxious to hear from his old 
home, so he delegated Vaughn to go on the mis- 
sion of delivering letters to his wife. 

Vaughn had almost completed his trip, having 
reached La Grange, six miles south of Canton, 
when he was cai)tured by a squad of Federal 
troops. 

They searched his person, and, finding letters 
and papers concealed about him, he was tried as 
a spy and sentenced to be shot. John B. Hender- 
son, Senator from Missouri, finally succeeded in 
getting an order from the President for a retrial, 
but the verdict remained as hitherto. Again Hen- 
derson appealed to Lincoln, who granted a third 
trial, with the same result. 

Henderson was not disconcerted, and again 
went to Lincoln. It was on the afternoon of 
April 14, 1865 — a melancholy date — that the 
Senator called at the White House. He called 
the attention of Lincoln to the fact that the war 
was practically closed, and said: "Mr. Lincoln, 
this pardon should be granted in the interest of 
peace and conciliation." 

Mr. Lincoln replied: " Senator, I agree with 
you. Go to Stanton and tell him this man must 
be released." 




Statue in Lincoln Park, Chicago. 



LINCOLN'S CODE OF WAR 213 

Henderson went to the office of the Secretary 
of War. Stanton became violently angry, and 
swore that he would permit no such procedure. 

Yaughn had but two days to live, and Hender- 
son hastened to make one more stand. After sup- 
per he went to the White House. The President 
was in his office, dressed to go to Ford's Theatre, 
when the Senator entered and told of the meet- 
ing he had had with Stanton. 

Lincoln turned to his desk and wrote a few 
lines on an official sheet of paper. As he handed 
it to Senator Henderson he remarked : " I think 
that will have precedence over Stanton.'' 

It was an order for an unconditional release 
and pardon — the last official paper ever signed by 
Abraham Lincoln. 



Lincoln's Code of War and the Peace Conference 
of 1899 

Aside from the emancipation of the slaves, 
history has recently given a lofty position to one 
of Lincoln's many humane acts, which shows how 
truly he lived and labored for the good of man- 
kind, and how greatly he honored and ennobled 
his nation. 

Mr. William Stead, in a letter written at The 
Hague during the International Peace Confer- 
ence, writes on June 1, 1899, as follows: 



214 



LINCOLN IN STORY 



" CREDIT TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

'^ It is very interesting to Americans to know 
that in the historical retrospect with which Pro- 
fessor Martens opened his case for the Russian 
scheme, he attributed the original initiative of 
the whole movement to Abraham Lincoln, whose 
code for the guidance of the Federal troops dur- 
ing the war served as the fi7^st example of the 
effort of humanity to reduce the laws of war 
within reasonable lirnits.'' 




stone presented to the President by citizens of Rome, Italy.* 



* Translation of Inscription. — " To Abraham Lincoln, 
President, for the second time, of the American Republic, 
citizens of Rome present this stone, from the wall of Servius 
Tullins, by which the memory of each of those brave assertors 
of liberty may be associated. Anno 1865." 



CHAPTEE XIX 



AFTEKWAED 



Lincoln's great name a mantle of protection to all Americans 
in foreign lands. 

Seyekal years after Lincoln's death (1874) 
the writer, then a student in Germany, was travel- 
ing in Switzerland. Arriving early one morning 
at the little village of Thusis, at the northern end 
of the Via Mala pass, he entered an inn for break- 
fast; as he seated himself at a table, he w^as sur- 
prised and delighted to notice hanging on the wall, 
directly in front of him, a fine engraving of Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

It was like meeting an old friend; and so far 
av/ay from America, too, in that little place among 
the Alps at the foot of high mountains which are 
always covered with snow. The first thought was, 
here is a Swiss gentleman who has lived in the 
United States, and has brought this picture back 
home with him. So, when the landlord entered, I 
said, ^^ Excuse me, sir, but have you not been in 
the United States?'' 

" Xo, indeed! " he replied; " but why do you 
ask?" 

215 



216 " LINCOLN IN STORY 

" That picture of Lincoln/' I said, " where did 
you get it? '' 

" Oh, that picture ! Why, that I bought at Lu- 
cerne; it is the only one in this canton [county], 
and I would not sell it for forty gulden! " he ex- 
claimed. 

]^ow thoroughly interested, I again asked: 

" What made you buy it? " 

He answered very earnestly, ^' Because I loved 
the man and his principles. He was a great 
man." 

"Were you ever in America?" he then 
said. 

'" Oh, yes ! I am an American," I replied. 

" What ! A native-born American ! " he ex- 
claimed, reaching out his hand. " Give me your 
hand. I am proud to meet a countryman of the 
great Lincoln," he continued. " E^ow you must 
stay with me and let me show you the points of in- 
terest about here." 

" I thank you," said I, " but I don't like to 
take up your time." 

" It will be a pleasure to me to devote the day 
to an American," he answered. " ^ow, there are 
those beautiful ruins up on the mountain yonder 
which were built many hundred years before 
Christ was born, and I know the only path by 
which to climb up to them. I will go with you, and 
from that high mountain I can show you the an- 



LINCOLN'S NAME IN FOREIGN LANDS 217 

cient watch-towers all along up the valley, which 
the Romans built many hundred years ago for 
their soldiers to occupy, to go forth and fight the 
barbarians." 

" You are very good ! " said I, " and since your 
love and reverence for Abraham Lincoln has 
prompted your kindness, in his name I will thank 
you." * 

So presently we started, and I enjoyed one of 
the happiest and most profitable days of my entire 
journey, because I was a countryman of the good 
and great Lincoln. 

It was his life of kind deeds, his poverty and 
struggle, his honesty and truthfulness, and his final 
death for the cause of liberty and Union of the 
States, which, away off there, thousands of miles 
from America, had won for me this generous hos- 
pitality. The little incident shows that a single 
character. may ennoble and glorify a nation; a sin- 
gle name, like magic, secure consideration and pro- 
tection to a race. 

* Excerpt from an address delivered at Packard's Business 
College, New York City, 1895. 



APPENDIX 



BATTLES AND GREAT EVENTS OP THE CIVIL 
WAR, ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER 

1862 

February 6th. — Fort Henry, Ky., captured by the 
Union army under General U. S. Grant with the aid 
of gunboats on the Tennessee River. 

February 16th. — Fort Donelson, on the Tennessee 
River, in Kentucky, surrendered to General Grant. 

March 8th. — The Monitor, the first armored vessel 
with guns in a revolving turret, invented by Ericsson, 
disabled the monster iron-clad ram the Merrimac with 
which the Confederates the day before had sunk two 
United States ships of war — the frigate Congress and 
sloop Cumberland. 

April 6th and 7th.— The battle of Pittsburg Land- 
ing, where defeat was turned into a victory for the 
Union army, under General Grant's command. 

April 24th. — A fleet of United States war-ships un- 
der Admiral Farragut successfully pass the Confeder- 
ate forts guarding the Mississippi River and the city 
of ISTew Orleans. 

April 25th. — Occupation of New Orleans by the 
Union army under General Butler. 

June 26th to July 6th. — Battles under General Mc- 

219 



220 LINCOLN IN STORY 

Clellan, including Malvern Hill. Defeat and retreat 
of the Union Army of the Potomac. 

July 2d.— The President calls for 300,000 men to 
serve three years. 

August 4th. — The President again calls for 300,000 
men for nine months' special service. 

August 16th. — McClellan evacuates Harrison's 
Landing. 

August 30th.— Second battle of Bull Eun (Ma- 
nassas) and defeat of the Union armies under General 
Pope. 

September 8th. — The enemy under General Lee en- 
ters Maryland. 

September 15th. — The Confederates under Stone- 
wall Jackson capture Harper's Ferry. 

September 16th and 17th. — Battle of Antietam, and 
retreat of the Confederate army under General Lee. 

September 19th and 20th. — Battle of Inka, Miss., 
and victory of the Union army under General Bose- 
crans. 

September 22d. — The President announces his in- 
tention to issue a proclamation, January 1st, freeing 
all the slaves in the Confederate States. 

October 3d and 4th. — Battle of Corinth, Miss., and 
victory of the Union army. 

November 5th. — McClellan relieved and General 
Burnside placed in command of the Army of the 
Potomac. 

December 13th. — Battle of Fredericksburg and de- 
feat of the Union army under General Burnside. 

December 27th and 28th. — General Sherman, aided 
by General Porter, assaults Vicksburg unsuccessfully. 

December 31st. — Battle of Murfreesborough and 
victory of the Union army. 



APPENDIX 221 

1863 

January 1st. — Proclamation of Emancipation by 
the President, giving freedom to nearly 5,000,000 col- 
ored people in the Confederate States. 

January 1st. — The French Government offers to 
mediate between the Confederates and the United 
States. The offer refused. 

April 1st. — Admiral Farragut with three gunboats 
passes the Confederate forts at Grand Gulf, Miss. 

April 16th. — Admiral Porter, acting under General 
Grant's orders, succeeds in passing the forts and bat- 
teries at Vicksburg at night on the Mississippi River. 

April 30th. — General Grant with the Union army 
crosses the Mississippi River below Vicksburg, Miss. 

May 16th. — Battle of Champion Hills, Miss. 

May 18th. — Siege of Vicksburg begun by the army 
under General Grant. 

June 3d. — The Confederate army under General 
Lee enters the State of Pennsylvania. 

June 14th and 15th. — Battle of Winchester and de- 
feat of the Union army by the Confederates under 
General Ewell. 

June 24th and 25th. — The Confederate army crosses 
the Potomac River to invade the Northern States. 

June 27th. — They advance to within thirteen miles 
of Harrisburg, capital of Pennsylvania. 

June 27th. — General Meade appointed commander 
of the Union Army of the Potomac. 

July 1st, 2d, and 3d.— Battle of Gettysburg, Pa.; 
defeat of the Confederate army under General Lee by 
the Union army. 

July 4th. — Capture of Vicksburg by General Grant. 

July 8th. — Port Hudson surrenders to the Union 
army under General Banks. 



222 LINCOLN IN STORY 

July 13th to 16th. — Draft riots in New York city. 

September 9th. — Chattanooga, Tenn., occupied by 
the Union army under General Rosecrans. 

September 19th and 20th. — Battle of Chickamauga 
and victory of the Union army. 

September 17th.— The President calls for 300,000 
men for three years. 

November 24th. — Battle of Lookout Mountain and 
Union victory under General Joe Hooker. 

November 29th. — The Confederates under General 
Longstreet attempt to capture Knoxville, Tenn. They 
fail and retreat. 

1864 

February 1st. — The President calls for 500,000 men 
for three years. 

March 10th. — General Grant appointed lieutenant- 
general commanding all the armies of the Union. 

May 4th. — General Grant advances against the ene- 
my with the Army of the Potomac (130,000 men), 
crossing the River Rapidan in Virginia. 

May 5th and 6th. — Battles of the Wilderness under 
General Grant. 

May 10th. — Battle of Spottsylvania Court-House 
under General Grant. 

May 16th to 18th. — Assault on Petersburg (near 
Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy) under 
Grant. 

May 19th. — The United States war-ship Kear- 
sarge sinks the Confederate cruiser Alabama off the 
coast of France. 

June 7th. — Lincoln again nominated for the presi- 
dency by the Republican party at Chicago, the vote 
being unanimous. 

July 12th. — The Confederates try to capture Wash- 



RD- ir 



J 



APPENDIX 



ington under General Early. They are repulsed at Fort 
Stevens, only six miles from the Capital. 

July 16th. — One dollar of gold cost $2.85 in green- 
backs, the highest point reached. 

August 5th to 22d. — Commodore Farragut bombards 
Mobile and captures Forts Gaines, Morgan, and Powell 
with the assistance of land forces under General 
Granger. 

August 31st. — Atlanta, Ga., occupied by the Union 
armies under General Sherman, after a siege of more 
than a month. 

September 15th. — Battle of Winchester, Va. 

October 19th. — Confederates make a raid on St. 
Albans, Vt., from Canada. 

November 8th. — Lincoln reelected President. 

ISTovember 14th. — General Sherman burns the city 
of Atlanta and begins his famous " march to the sea." 
Marching through the enemy's country, he succeeds in 
reaching Savannah, Ga., on the seacoast, December 
20th. The backbone of the rebellion is thus broken. 

JsTovember 25th. — Confederate incendiaries try to 
burn New York city; some hotels are burned. 

December 13th. — Fort McAllister, at Savannah, 
Ga., captured by General Sherman's troops. 

December 15th and 16th. — The Union army under 
General Thomas defeats the Confederates under Gen- 
eral Hood at Nashville, Tenn. 

December 25th. — Fort Fisher, N. C, successfully 
bombarded by General Porter and attacked by colored 
troops, with great bravery, under General Butler. 

1865 

January 15th. — Fort Fisher captured. 

February 1st. — General Sherman starts northward. 



224 LINCOLN IN STORY 

February 17th. — Charleston, S. C, evacuated and 
burned by the Confederates under General Hardee. 

February 18th. — Occupied by the Union army. 

March 4th. — Lincoln inaugurated President the 
second time. 

March 31st.— Battle of Five Forks, Va. 

April 2d. — Richmond, capital of the Confederacy, 
burned and evacuated. 

April 6th. — Confederates under General Ewell, 
8,000 strong, captured. 

April 9th. — General Lee surrenders his armies to 
General Grant at Appomattox. 

April 14th. — General Sherman occupies Kaleigh, 
capital of Georgia. 

April 14th. — The Stars and Stripes raised again 
over Fort Sumter. The war ended. 

The President shot and killed by J. Wilkes Booth, 
dying at half -past seven on the morning of April 15th. 
Universal sorrow of the people not only in America, 
but throughout the world. 

Note. — The number of men enlisted in the civil war was 
2,326,168. Of this number, 110,070 were killed and died of 
wounds, and 199,720 died from disease, making a total of 309,- 
790 who gave their lives in defense of the Union. About the 
same number of men were killed in the Confederate army. 
The war cost |2,700,000,000. 



THE EKD 



SEP 21 1901 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




012 025 291 4 ^, 






^i' 



